


DNA: The Power of Evolution.

by JoySeeker101



Series: One Hero, a Thousand Paths: The many faces of Deku. [2]
Category: Prototype (Video Games), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-04-20 08:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 53,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21961813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoySeeker101/pseuds/JoySeeker101
Summary: Long time ago, in a warm day of 2050, a glowing baby was born: he was the first known possessor of a Quirk, and from there, humanity found its legendary "Next step of Evolution" as more and more people began being born with strange and amazing powers.And yet, long before that, in 2009, super-human already battled for the sake of the world using powers defying every rule of Nature.But that battle was forcefully erased, edited and silenced so that the world could forget those dirty little games of power between Military and deranged Terrorists, so much that every "Infected" went hunted-down and killed mercilessly until twenty years later none remained, except one.Ever since then, James Heller walked the earth alone, hiding thanks to his powers as he watched the world change and evolve in ways even the Monster he killed could only dream about.Until finally, almost one hundred years later, Heller's endless wandering took him to a big city in Japan to start yet another life under fake identity, and that life did pass peacefully until a fateful day he met a 4-years-old boy named Izuku Midoriya...
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Toga Himiko, Midoriya Izuku/Toga Himiko/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako
Series: One Hero, a Thousand Paths: The many faces of Deku. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580866
Comments: 84
Kudos: 156





	1. Blood.

**Author's Note:**

> I am fairly sure this is a cliché by now, but since I was late to the party, this was to be expected, so, fingers crossed in hope this won’t suck too much!  
PS: I don’t like Bakugo nor Mineta, I hope this won’t be a problem. (No bashing.)
> 
> (I want to try explore the full scope of what something like the Blacklight can do, it can’t possibly just be all about creating a couple weapons and eat people...)

**Street -**

_Quirkless...QUIRKLESS!_ WHY HIM?!

In this day and age, on Erth, at the very least the _**80%**_ of the planet population had a mutation in their base DNA that gave them ‘_Superpowers’_, literally “_**Quirks**_”, either incredible like spitting fire or shooting lasers from their eyes, to more mundane powers like super speed or super strength, or even just fairly tame ones like change hair colour at will or control nail length or eating everything you want and never getting fat; but if you were part of the remaining 20%...You were just _Human_, and depending on where you lived, you would even get the shaft on everything else: bullied, ostracized and insulted.

Luckily Japan was a bit more accepting about somebody lacking a Quirk, with only very rare exceptions, but of all people that had to be born _Quirkless_, young Izuku Midoriya (Age 4) was honestly the very last one that deserved it, because he really wanted to be a Hero.

Not for money.

Not for women.

Not for fame.

He may have been just a kid, but a desire that pure ingrained that deep inside his soul would hardly go away even as an adult! He _REALLY_ wanted to be a Hero just so he could protect people and do the right thing, like his Hero and/or obsession All Might; he wanted to be a symbol of Justice like the man himself that was considered the symbol of hope of all Japan, but without a Quirk, even a pathetic one, this was not possible.

And sad as he already was, as soon as the green-haired kid saw his own mother cry at the news of him being Quirkless, the poor kid simply came _undone_ and ran away, already believing that the woman was feeling ashamed of having a ‘_Normal’_ son...His father? Who knew where the guy was, Izuku didn’t even remember his face while his mother never talked about him.

In truth the poor woman, Inko Midoriya, was crying for a completely different reason: she was heartbroken, unable to believe her precious boy had been denied his chance to be a hero because of a _quirk_ of fate, and the bitter irony of this left a disgusting taste in her mouth.

She also felt guilty because for a brief instant she was feeling relief about her son lack of Powers, just for a second thanking the stars for making sure her son would not live the dangerous life of a Hero like he wished for, and she hated herself for that as soon as she caught herself having those thoughts, hating herself so much that she cried in guilt about her own selfishness.

Unfortunately she was too late to see and understand how her baby misunderstood her reaction, and when she finally noticed, he was already gone and with a horrified cry of “_Izuku!_” she had launched herself to the chase, hoping to find her son and mend the bridge between them.

**With Izuku - **

Running without a real plan, the kid soon wandered through the busy streets of the city, forcing the _river of people_ around him to part slightly to let him pass through while they themselves never stopped for an instant.

And young Izuku could see them all: schoolgirls still wearing their _UA Highschool_ uniform talking excitedly about their Hero training; old men and women walking by with a small smile, one of them with three eyes while another with a furry tail they used to hold giant grocery bags; kids showing-off their first signs of Quirks and getting lavished in praises by their parents.

Quirks, Quirks everywhere he looked! Big and small! Useful and useless! Everywhere, wherever he looked, and then there he was instead: a Quirkless nothing.

It was then that at the opposite side of the road a store door exploded outward, causing everybody around to run away screaming in fear so to let the man that walked out have all the space he wanted.

“HAHAHAHAHA! Run away, assholes! I am the great _**Whiplasher!**_” the guy wearing a cheap Halloween mask and a shabby dirty hoodie declared while dislodging the bones in his right arm so to freely elongate it to thrice its length and turn the entire thing into a long whip, and with the kukri knife he was holding in his hand, the whole thing looked especially lethal.

_**Whiplasher: **‘Rubber Muscles’ Quirk isolated to just his arms; he needs to dislodge his arms’ bones to use it to its full potential._

“Another edgy kid.” contrary to all the chaos and fear surrounding the scene, especially since the guy attacked whoever came too close to him while running away with the money he stole, Izuku heard an old man talk behind him with a tired voice, and the grandpa was also cringing hard, by the looks of it.

“Uh?” Izuku asked, curious.

“Believe it or not, long time ago there weren’t all those superpowers around, then they popped-up all over the place and the world went crazy for them...I miss those times, stuff was easier without edgy _S__u__per-Villains-Wannabee_.” the owner of the voice was an old black man talking with a heavy accent, he was leaning forward on his walking stick while talking, but something told the kid that the man didn’t actually need that cane, considering how fierce the light in his eyes still was.

“Are you not afraid, Mister?” Izuku asked, tears and sadness momentarily put aside out of sheer childish curiosity.

“Afraid? Back in the days I used to break little _Edgelords_ like those for fun! Damn it, I even enjoyed making them soil themselves and cry.” the old man answered, shaking his head.

“W-What now?”

“Now? Now I guess I’ll fix this mess, kid. Even just for old days’ sake.”

Incredibly he shoved the walking cane in Izuku’s tiny hands and straightened his back like nothing, somehow turning almost younger in an instant, and looking as if somebody had tried_ photoshop__ping_ the face of an 80-years old grey-haired old man on the body of a mid-30, jacked young man coming right out of a gym; even his ‘_old man clothes’_ looked strained against his now hulking physique.

“No ‘_Hero’_ in sight yet, I guess they are waiting for the news crew to come here for some good PR bullshit. God, I hate those fucking primadonnas!” the old man hissed with a booming voice as he walked towards the so-called _**Whiplasher **_with heavy steps.

“Who are you, Loser?” the criminal asked, eyes full of cruel amusement hidden under the cheap plastic of his mask.

“Spare me the edgy talk, kiddo. I already heard it all from other unoriginal punks like you. It’s been years since I last heard something original come out from the mouth of little shits like you.” he answered, cracking his neck and knuckles loudly as he walked.

“Get bent, old man! I will be the greatest Criminal Mastermind of this whole cesspool of a city!” the criminal answered, madly waving around his whip-like arm in random patterns.

“As I said: _Zero Originality_. And that is not how you make a _**Whipfist,**_ you chinese bootleg copy!”

“I am Japanese, not Chinese!”

“You all still look the same to me, kiddo! Now stay still so I can kick the _sushi _out of you!”

“RACIST!” the Villain yelled as his knife whipped towards the old man at blinding speed.

“Who gives a Fuck?!” the other answered, unfazed.

It was then that the “_**Old Man**_” felt something small impact with the back of his leg, almost tripping him.

“_Shit! The brat!?_” the old man thought as he left himself fall to the ground while holding the kid close to him and in his arms so that both could roll away from the incoming attack that dug a hole in the concrete floor, showing that there was indeed some force behind the attack itself.

“What the hell are you doing?!” he hissed angrily.

“He is dangerous, he has a Quirk! Let’s go!” Izuku answered while pulling on his sleeve, unfortunately for him without actually moving the adult.

“Listen to the kid, fossil! Next attack will behead you, so take the little snot-nosed shit and run away!”

“Hahahaha! There is no need for that, citizen! Justice has come to save the day!” another voice declared loudly, full of smugness.

“Uh?”

“Have no fear! Captain Courage is here!” an old Pro Hero, judging by the head full of grey hair deep in contrast with the colorful costume and face mask he was wearing, continued talking as he joined the scene with his blinding-yellow cape fluttering in the wind behind him.

“The fuck is he?”

“Mister...Y-You shouldn’t say bad words...” Izuku muttered with a small, shy voice.

“Okay! FINE! Who. _The Funk_. Is He?!” the old man asked again between clenched teeth as the horridly-dressed Hero in Pink-and-Yellow clothes started battling the masked punk.

“C-Captain Courage...I think. He was a Pro hero when my mommy was four...He...He never became famous, dunno why.” the young kid answered.

“BURP OF JUSTICE! _**BUUUUUUUUURP!**_” at that the ‘_Hero’_ gave a loud belch that produced a shock-wave strong enough to send the small thief flying.

“Argh!”

“It’s not over yet! GATLING BURPS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! _**BURP! BURP! BURP! BURP! BURP!**_”

“Nooo!”

“Kiddo, trust me: between horrid costume and stupid powers it’s easy to tell why he never made it as a _famous_ Hero.” the strange old man answered, his cringing rapidly reaching maximum level the longer the fight went.

“ENOUGH! I won’t be defeated by a loser!” having finally recovered by the humiliating attack, the young thief pulled-out a second knife and dislodged and elongated his other arm so to form a second whip.

“You fool! Justice will always prevail! SUPER BURP OF VICTORY!...B-B-Bruuu…Hu-oh...” whatever he was trying to do failed miserably when his planned burp came out as a weak whimper, too weak to even produce a faint wind.

“Bwhahahaha! What? Out of gas already?” the thief asked, mockingly.

“J-J-Just give me a second!” the ‘_Hero’_ answered while opening a pouch on his bright-orange belt to take out a can of soda and a handful of frizzy candy so to immediately start wolfing everything down without an ounce of manners.

“My God, that is pathetic.” the old man muttered, face-palming at the sorry spectacle.

“Yes.” young Izuku added, for a moment almost happy to be Quirkless if the alternative was turning-out like _THAT_, even he at four had standards!

“_All Might is awesome...Heroes should be Cool and Awesome...Not silly like that._” the kid thought, Heroes should not have lame powers if you asked him!

“NOW DIE, YOU IDIOT!” the thief yelled in glee as he launched himself in a two-handed flurry of attacks whipping everywhere in a random pattern, making the burping hero shriek and scamper away trying to keep distance.

“WAIT! WAIT! SPARE ME! JUST A MINUTE!”

“NO! GO FUCKING DIE!”

“KYAAAAH!” scared out of his mind by the double forward-thrust, the escaping hero tried using the first thing he found close enough to himself as an improvised shield…

And that happened to be Izuku himself.

“AAAAAH!”

“NO!” the old black man yelled as he saw both knives pierce the kid’s body all the way through.

“One down, two to gooo! Hihihihihi!” the thief said, laughing in glee.

“I-I am sorry! I-I was scared! I-I wasn’t thinking and-and-”

“BOTH OF YOU, SHUT THE FUCK UP!” the old man bellowed furious, making both immediately snap their mouths shut, loudly.

“Hey, kid. Have no fear, I am going to fix everything, okay? It’s my fault too if you got wounded like this.”

“I feel...Cold...” the kid muttered weakly, his spine having been severed cleanly and his stomach turned to shreds, it will be maybe a couple minutes before he died, but for some small miracle, he had been spared the pain.

“Everything will be okay.”

“I just...Wanted to be a Hero...” Izuku whimpered, crying softly.

“You will be one, everybody deserves a second chance.” was all he heard before everything faded to black, right when the ‘_Old Man’_ hands turned into long sharp claws, making both _Hero_ and _Thief_ start screaming in abject horror and fear as he jumped both like a roaring beast.

**Untold amount of time later – Hospital - **

“IZUKU!” when the boy woke-up, he immediately heard the desperate cry of his mother, soon followed by her arms circling him tightly so to crush his face in her bosom, all this while her tears took only an instant to soak his head completely.

“Mommy?” the boy asked.

“Yes, Yes! Mommy is here!” Inko answered, sobbing.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I-I don’t have a Quirk.”

“Mommy was not angry about it, silly.” she answered, kissing his forehead while showing a gentle smile.

“...But...You were crying...”

“Because I was sad, I wanted everybody to see my little Hero in action, so what the doctor said made mommy sad.” Inko answered.

“Hero?” little Izuku asked with big, watery eyes.

“Uh-hu! You are my precious, little Hero.” Inko answered, peppering the boy’s face in kisses making him giggle.

“I saw a Pro Hero fighting, mum!” once finally released from the motherly kiss barrage the kid said with a small smile.

“Oh! You saw All Might-san?” the woman asked, knowing very well how happy that would make her boy.

“No, it was Captain Courage, the Hero you told me about.”

“Oh...That one...Is he still around?” Inko said with a grimace.

“Yeah, he was very silly. AH! There was a grandpa with me! Where’s he?!” the boy asked, looking very worried.

“Captain Courage took him to safety before announcing his own retirement from the Hero business. How are you?” a doctor asked as he entered the room followed by a tall man.

“Ooh! I am okay!”

“Very good! Miss Midoriya? Can we talk?” the same doctor asked, pointing outside the room.

“Of course, mommy will be back soon, okay?” she answered before following the doctor outside.

“Okay, mum!”

**Hospital – right outside Izuku’s Room - **

“Miss Midoriya, this gentleman is mister Heller, he was the one to take your son here to us.”

“Nice to meet you, but please, call me James.” the tall black man in his mid-thirties said with a heavy accent.

“Nice to meet you, James-san. Thank you for taking care of my son.” Inko answered with a deep bow.

“Think nothing of it, luckily your son’s Quirk kept him alive, I don’t think a normal kid would have lasted long enough for me to take him here. Even running as fast as I can with my own gift.”

“Q-Quirk?” Inko repeated, taken aback.

“Aaah, yes! Unfortunately our hospital is way too small, so we are not equipped for Quirk users, it is a great stroke of luck that his regeneration fixed his wounds by itself.” the doctor explained

“But-but! But my son is Quirkless!” Inko said, utterly confused.

“Eh? I saw his spine rebuild itself, Madame. That is quite not so ‘_Normal’_ if you ask me.” Heller answered, and for a second a flash of mirth could be seen in his eyes, luckily though it went undetected by the other two.

“Indeed! We tried taking a blood sample, but as soon as that leaves his body it turns black and it returns inside his veins by itself. So it would be better to take your son to a specialized facility for Quirks that make normal exams impossible, so to avoid complications to go unnoticed. I can even call one for you myself to book a complete check-up and make you avoid waiting lists.” the doctor added.

“B-B-But I still have the results here!” Inko answered, showing them the papers detailing Izuku’s lack of Quirk.

“Uh...It looks legit, even done with way more care than usual...It may be that the results were mixed-up then?” the Doctor muttered with a thoughtful expression.

“The boy was in a bad shape, Doc. I am no medic, but can it be that being near-death made his Quirk pop-up?” James suggested, and immediately having to catch the heavily-swaying Inko as ‘_Near Death’_ was clearly not a term she wanted to hear associated with her son.

“Uhmmm! It would not be the first time I hear about survival instinct triggering the activation of a Quirk in somebody so young, but on a Quirkless? It would mean that in truth the gene was merely a variant, _different _enough to give false-negatives upon testing...I will have to notify some people about the chance that we may need to make the Quirk Test a more broad one, just in case...” the doctor answered while waking away, so much deep in thought to barely remember to give his farewell to the two.

“We got him curious, good for him. By the way.” James said.

“Yes?” the woman answered.

“Captain Courage did not ‘_Voluntarily_ _Retire’_ exactly. Apparently some strange old guy messed him up badly together with some common street thief, once done the two looked like as if the poor bastards took a dive inside a giant blender, I would try to make sure the kid won’t see the news for a while, it’s a sorry spectacle. Very messy.” the young man answered.

“Eeew.”

“Quite. Do you mind if I pay your son a visit? Just five minutes to see if he is okay, last time I saw him he was, well, it was bad.”

“O-Okay. Just don’t scare him, please. He doesn’t do well with strangers.” Inko asked.

“I’ll be careful, madame. Promise.” James answered as both returned inside the room.

“Izuku?” Inko asked.

“Yes, mum?”

“This is Mister James Heller, he took you here to the Hospital where those good doctors healed you.”

“Hi, kid.”

“Hello.” the boy answered, shyly.

“You look sparkling new, they fixed you up nice.”

“I dunno, I was asleep.” the kid answered, unsure.

“Then it means they were very good.”

“...Are you that grandpa’s son? You look similar...”

“Izuku!” Inko said, appalled.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry, Madame! I am not offended!” giving a rough, chilling laugh that had the woman shiver in dread, Heller walked closer to the kid to pat his head gently.

“No, unfortunately I am not.”

“Oh! Sorry then.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. But talk to me a bit about you, how do you feel?” James asked, curious.

“OH! I feel very good!” the boy answered.

“I am glad. So I heard you like All Might the superhero, why?”

“Because he is cool and...”

One day, in the distant future, Izuku Midoriya will always remember that moment as the starting point of his life as a hero, and the fact that ‘_Technically’_ he was still considered Quirkless never stopped making him chuckle.

**Several years later – Apartment 23b – Apartment complex - **

Izuku Midoriya, age 14, was waiting for a certain somebody to open the door after having knocked on it incessantly.

“_Coming, coming!_” a gruff voice answered, and when the door finally went pull open, a very tall muscular black man wearing a black hoodie and dark blue jeans showed-up.

“...You are late, kiddo.” the giant man said.

“My teacher got a little emotional towards the end and his speech lasted longer than usual.” Izuku answered with a shy smile.

“Shit, you are still a cinnamon roll like you were at 5! Get in before diabetes kills me.” James answered, rolling his eyes and moving aside to let the kid enter.

“I am not a cinnamon roll...” the young man muttered with a pout.

“My sugar levels say otherwise, kid. Now stop pouting, it makes me want to hug you and protect you, and I am not a damn mother hen.” the other answered, huffing.

The apartment was, as usual, small and a total mess; a couch could be hardly seen under piles of discarded clothes and the small table in front of it was littered in crushed beer cans and sport magazines.

The only two areas that were not dirty were the second bedroom and the giant flat-screen TV right next to the only window, proof that whoever lived there with James Heller either didn’t care or had long since admitted defeat, preferring to keep clean only their side of the apartment.

“Want something? I have...Soda...Or soda...or soda...Or Beef Udon,” James said once checked the pure empty desolation that was the fridge.

“Beef udon?”

“Leftovers from yesterdays’ dinner.” James answered, shrugging uncaring.

“Soda then.” Izuku answered, grabbing the flying can the other threw him.

“Don’t make it explode, kiddo.” the tall man said, smirking.

“So mean...”

“Groceries will be here soon,”

“Good for you, you need to eat healthy.” Izuku answered, sighing in relief.

“I don’t need to eat, Izuku. Just like I don’t get sick nor I need to sleep.” Heller answered.

“I know that, I am like that too.” the young man answered, and that made his own school uniform _ripple_ as if alive.

“Way more comfortable than normal clothes, eh? Tailor-made to your necessities and easy to change.” giving a wry smirk, the man’s clothes too shifted into a more formal suit and then back to his previous clothes.

“I wish you told me sooner that you gave me a Quirk.” Izuku answered with a small whine.

“Again, it’s not a Quirk! It’s a virus, a bio-weapon!” Heller answered, growling annoyed.

“But it works like a Quirk!”

“It doesn’t! You even still register as a Quirkless! Their pretty exams keep failing, maybe because Blacklight is not ‘_Natural’_ but man-made...I am no scientist.”

“But you have eaten dozens of them!”

“Yeah, I have eaten a bunch of egg-heads, but I prefer to keep ‘_them’_ separated from ‘_me’_, thank you.”

“Do I have to eat people too?” Izuku asked, looking miserable.

_Sigh!_ “No. You can regenerate as well by eating normal food, I am just saying that in a pinch, should you be in a life-or-death situation, grabbing a small living animal and Consume that would actually be more effective.” Heller said again for what sounded like being an answer he was forced to give at least twice a day for the past five years to the exact same question.

“Like a rat?” the young man asked, now with a green face perfectly matching his green hair.

“You were half dead that time, so I grabbed the first living thing I could while taking you to the hospital, please do forgive me if I was worried a four-years-old was about to die in my arms.”

“I am happy that I do not remember the taste.” Izuku answered, gagging.

“Pussy.”

“I am not!” he answered, red-faced.

“Whatever. Does your mother know you are passing by here today too?” Heller asked.

“No, I just came here to say hello.”

“Then hurry up and go home! And remember, tomorrow we’ll train again, I want you to learn to control the powers of Blacklight perfectly.”

“We have been doing this for five years already, I know what our schedule is.” Izuku answered.

“Good! Now go! I won’t have Inko Midoriya on my ass because you got home late,” James ordered, shoving both kid and soda can out.

“Hahahaha! Okay!” Izuku answered, laughing, and remembering how his mother (pretty much half the size of Heller) could still hold her ground against the hulking man.

“IZUUUUKUUUUU!” a new happy cry rang in his ears as Heller’s roommate appeared with two giant bags held in her arms.

“Himiko!” Izuku answered, just as happy to see her.

Himiko Toga, ANOTHER ‘_pet project’_ of Heller, she was a lean girl with golden cat-like eyes, blond hair tied in two messy buns (_with hair jutting around randomly with position and direction that Izuku knew for experience were actually ‘_**planned’**_ instead of casual_) and wearing a similar school uniform to his.

The two had met during one of Heller’s training session, at the time the man was explaining to Izuku how to use the body-augmentation power of Blacklight together with_ parkour_ for fast travel/chases through the city, and of course mixing all that together with few random and small acts as Hero to give the young man some ground work should he really manage to get in the ‘_**Hero Course’**_ of UA Highschool even while being still categorized as _Quirkless._

Even if _Hero Work_ when still not under UA’s banner and a _Hero License_ was actually considered illegal, thus forcing the two to wear masks and hoods to not be recognized and arrested.

In one of those sorties, Izuku happened to witness Himiko about to stab a boy to death during a moment of psychotic breakdown and stopped her without the poor victim even noticing; from there they got her story: forced to forcefully ‘_repress’_ her Quirk due to her parents’ insistence and high standards along way too much pressure that had been added to her for way too long until she finally snapped.

Sure she also shoved that same kitchen knife _**deep**_ into Izuku’s heart, but the boy was more concerned about her _**Mad-laughs-with-crying-fit-at-the-same-time**_ moment to notice/care about the blade neatly carving a necessary organ in half, the boy simply went on to try and help her calm down while ignoring his own profuse bleeding.

Lots of further tears and excuses later (_along some explanation as to why Izuku did not die on the spot) _and Heller caved-in at the boy’s demands and accepted to have the girl become his roommate so that she could escape the clutches of her parents before she actually attacked and killed somebody with normal durability; it was not like the man lacked enough money to raise her since he had two jobs ongoing thanks to his powers of shape-shifting.

The girl now looked a bit better, even if she still tended to slip into more violent and blood-thirsty bouts of violence, but to Heller’s surprise Izuku seemed open to let her stab HIM until she calmed down whenever she suffered from the more violent ones, all for the old man’s confusion.

She also came to _**L****ove**_ the boy up to unhealthy levels after three years of exposure to him and thanks to his “_Quirk”_ and powers, some of which very similar to her own, helping her to keep her own impulses in check; his being so hard to kill also appealed to her more violent side as well, but still, neither Izuku nor Heller knew of her infatuation as she was still surprisingly shy when it came to express it.

“Need some help?” Izuku asked, concerned.

“No-no! There’s no need!” Himiko answered immediately, and her teeth, as always looking way more sharp than normal, shined in the light thanks to her wide smile.

“You sure? They look heavy.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry! JAMES! COME HERE THIS INSTANT!” she answered, dropping the smile in favour of a bestial roar that made the windows rattle, before returning to smile immediately after.

“Coming, coming...” Heller answered, coming out from the apartment once modified himself to appear like an older version of himself.

“You can go, kiddo, I’ll help the harpy.”

“I am not a harpy!” she hissed back in anger.

“I’ll go then, bye!”

“Bye Izuku!” Himiko answered, beaming and watching him leave with a longing look on her face.

“I can’t help but notice that you never smile like that with me.” Heller admitted.

“Go jump down a cliff!” she replied, marching inside and leaving both bags to the man.

“Kids these days...No manners. At least keep your side of the apartment clean, dammit!”

“Fuck you!”

**With Izuku – Road towards his home – few minutes later - **

Cheating a little by going roof-hopping, the young man managed to recover the time he ‘_wasted’_ visiting Heller and was well underway to reach home on a more normal pace when he felt the hair at the base of his neck stand up, and acting on instinct he dropped down into a low crouch to see a mass of green sludge fly past him to hit a car and cover it completely.

“My-My! Good reflexes!” the living jello said jovially as it compacted into a vaguely-human shape lying leisurely on top of that same car.

“May I help you?” Izuku asked with a strained tone, trying to sound casual and not on high alert.

“Yeah, I just need a lift.” the thing said.

“I am afraid I can’t drive yet.”

“Hohoho! No, silly! Not by car! I MEAN LET ME RIDE YOUR BOD-” _**WHAM! **_What the thing was saying while surging forward like a sentient raging river went cut short when another car parked nearby went lifted and swung like a bat to hit it in the span of a second, launching it away to splatter on the floor.

“...Hello?” Izuku asked, worried, and dropping the bent-in-half car he was holding on as an improvised weapon.

“...”

“Oh my God, I killed him!” the young man shrieked in fear.

“H-Hello?” hoping fervently to have not just outright murdered somebody/something, he cautiously neared the motionless pool of living slime.

“Y-Y-You okay?” he asked again, now standing above the inert pool.

“JUST GIVE ME YOUR BODY!” the sludge villain yelled as he attacked again, this time managing to enter inside the young man’s ear with its whole body.

“ARGH!” yelling in pain, Izuku grabbed his head with an expression of agony as he fell on his knees.

A second later the same green slime hurriedly exited from the boy’s ears to reconstruct its body, only now half the sizes and looking more like a slime kid instead of a full adult.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOUR BODY TRIED TO EAT ME!” the living slime yelled in horror.

“W-W-Well, my Quirk is very...Well...I-It can eat living beings easily.” Izuku answered with a meek and apologetic tone, all the while thanking the stars that there was only he and that thing in the street at the moment.

“I can tell!” the Sludge answered with a roar, and with his new high-pitch voice the effect technically was also kinda hilarious.

“Whatever! I still need to find a body to hide in, and if not yours, I can always take over another!” the slime-human declared before rapidly running away.

“Take over...W-W-WAIT!” Izuku, understanding that the thing openly admitted he wanted to steal somebody’s body, launched himself to the chase.

“What the...FUUUUCK!” Sludge yelled as he saw the unassuming preteen boy start running behind him at a speed clearly not human, and with enough strength under each step to crack the street under him.

“SHIIIIIT!” The Sludge yelled in surprise while turning from human-shaped to just a long stream of slime, at that then the thing started ricocheting from every surface in hope to gain extra speed.

“STOP RUNNING!” Izuku yelled.

“FUCK NO!” the Sludge answered.

“Who the fuck’s yell-” not too far away, behind a corner of the street, a blond boy with untamed hair named Bakugo yelled annoyed at the ruckus happening behind him.

_ **WH** _ _ **A** _ _ **M! WH** _ _ **A** _ _ **M!** _

Without giving the boy enough time to finish talking, or just activate his Explosions-based Quirk, both Izuku and Sludge unceremoniously ran _over him_ without stopping, even Izuku did not notice he had basically ran-over his former childhood friend turned schoolyard bully with how focused he was on stopping the Villain from hurting somebody via _body-snatching_.

And when Bakugou himself will finally regain consciousness he will find himself on a stretcher by an ambulance with a small concussion and several teeth missing while doctors kept pestering him in questions about how he managed to get slammed down so hard to get his face and body stuck three-inches-deep in pure asphalt without dying.

**With Izuku - **

“STOP RUNNING!” Izuku ordered.

“NO! YOU STOP CHASING ME!” The Sludge answered, diving inside the gutter of a near apartment complex to run upward its wall and _explode_ free on its rooftop.

“Ah! What now?!” the Villain said with a challenging smile.

_ **Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!** _

“What the fuck?!” the thing shrieked in surprise as the boy simply kept running, only now purposely stomping down hard at each step so that his soles could go deep enough into the concrete wall of the building to give him enough foothold to run vertically on its sheer surface without losing speed.

“Give up and get arrested, then I’ll stop!” Izuku said.

“NEVER!” the Sludge villain answered as it simply descended down the gutter at the opposite side of the building.

_ **Skriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!** _

Without missing a beat, Izuku’s left hand morphed abruptly, his skin and bones breaking apart into a shapeless black mass of flesh then compacting to form five long jagged blades protruding from what looked like an over-sized mockery of a human arm and hand made of over-grown and malformed pitch-black flesh; and using that same transformed hand to slow-down his descend as he jumped down the building by easily plunging its absurdly-sharp blades deep into the wall.

Heller never was one for worrying about property damage back in the days, so when he started training Izuku in the use of the Blacklight Virus he had infected the boy with, it never actually occurred to him to also teach the kid any approach beside the ‘_**as long as it works and its fast, **__**then do it.**__’_ kind when faced with a threat...It was a miracle in itself if Izuku came to prefer blunt attacks with the simply-named ‘_Muscle Mass’_ power of his New Quirk instead of taking over the ‘_**Shred to ribbons **__**and**__**shuffle through**__** the memories of the Consumed later.**__’_ modus operandi of his teacher.

This didn’t mean though that the boy didn’t know how to fully use EVERY POWER the 200-years-old bio-weapon he had roaming around in his blood-stream gifted him with, it was all merely personal preference; and it never ceased to amaze Izuku to see how something man-made dating to way before the appearance of Quirks could actually give to proper Quirks a run for their money.

“_It was made by power-hungry egg-heads with a God complex, they wanted their shit to work well and do everything, __and they got it!_” Heller would always answer when questioned about how it was possible that an artificial Quirk like the Blacklight Virus could do all it did.

So there he was, Izuku Midoriya (Age 15), technically still considered ‘_Quirkless’_ and yet having the powers of an ever-evolving super virus created back when superpowers were only stuff a selected few had; a virus that had the primary objective of surviving and keeping its host alive _**by any means necessary**_ up to rewriting his entire being and give the middle finger to the already-loose laws of Nature of a Quirk-centric world.

Shape-shifting? Yes, for both clothes and identity.

Super senses? Switchable On or Off at will.

Super Strength, Defense and Speed? Very yes.

Super Adaptability and Survival? It just happened, completely automatic.

Weapons Creation? Everything he wanted from every part of his body! The only limit was his imagination, and if he will manage to replicate the effect of gun-powder for the more complex ones.

The Blacklight Virus could even create new abilities if put in extreme life-or-death situations, so it really was a one-way ticket to the ‘_Top of the Food-chain’;_ the only problem was that Izuku’s unwillingness of Consuming other humans meant that his reserves of _Bio-Mass_ will never be over-abundant like Heller’s that still had it in spares even after decades of him lying low, so never really replenishing his own reserves.

But eating slightly more than a normal human when in need was not an actual issue as Heller begrudgingly covered that angle himself, whenever he did not directly infused some of his own Bio-Mass into Izuku out of annoyance.

“Just leave me alone! Are you not tired of chasing me, you freak!?” the Sludge, having finally been cornered after another long chase, yelled in both fear and anger as the kid stalked closer to him once returned his arm to normal, even his school uniform rebuilt itself, as that too was made out of Blacklight cells.

“Freak? I am not a freak!” Izuku commented, looking quite hurt at the statement.

“Yes you are! You can’t chase people through half the city and not be one!” the living goo answered, he was still reduced to kid-sizes and he didn’t seem able to recover the lost mass.

“There you are!” a new voice yelled in triumph.

“Oh, no...” the Sludge muttered in abject horror.

“**DETROIT**...”

“That voice!” Izuku yelled at the same time, and he will forever deny that it was a very _fangirlish_ squeal type of scream what came out from his mouth.

“**SMAAASH**!” the owner of the voice finished saying at the same time as Izuku, and a mighty punch simply disintegrated the Sludge villain, splattering him on the floor and creating a crater on the point of impact.

“I caught up to you finally!...But I was certain you were taller before you gave me the slip...” the Pro Hero muttered unsure at seeing a way smaller pool of groaning unconscious goo than expected.

“ALL MIGHT!” squealing again, young Izuku had just lost whatever self-control he had and hugged his Idol/_obsession _tightly, actually making said giant of muscles whimper a little in pain at the unexpected pressure generated by those small arms.

“Ehm...Uhm...H-Hello!” All Might tried saying, unsure, and even if used to adoring fans being kind of physical in their approach, he was still feeling a bit preoccupied because thanks to their difference in sizes and current position Izuku looked about to do very unsavory things to his junk.

“_Please tell me there is not a convenient camera somewhere! I don’t want to end like ‘_Ultima Man’_! He still has to recover from a similar misunderstanding after fifteen years!_” the Pro Hero thought in alarm as he managed, with more difficulties than he had anticipated, to dislodge the euphoric fan from himself before anybody could accuse him of child molestation.

“All Might!” Izuku in the meantime had his overall IQ dropped to a single digit before managing a slight recover and pulling-out a small notebook and presenting it to the Hero with a way-too-deep bow.

“P-P-Please...A-A-Autograph?” he managed to blurt-out after his third try.

“Ahh, that’s it? Easy as pie!” All Might answered, chuckling, and once carefully trapped the Villain inside a small bottle aptly created to hold him, he signed the small book with an ample flourish in a way he could tell made the boy’s day a great one.

It was then that a hidden gadget inside a secret pocket of his hero costume started silently vibrating, making the Pro Hero turn deadly pale: he had just two minutes to leave and look for an isolated place before his powers gave-in, blowing his cover and uncovering his secret identity.

“LOOKATTHETIMEIREALLYMUSTGO, BYE!” being in a hurry never brought good things, and being as near-hysterical as All Might was in his hurry to leave, he actually pocketed both Villain AND Izuku’s ‘_book of Autographs’_ in his costume and leaped away.

“WAIT!” the young man really wanted to tell the Pro Hero about what he did, but he had jumped away way too fast for him to talk, so the boy just latched to the man’s chest a second before he could leap away.

“What are you doing?!” the older man yelled with wide eyes, and watching the wind pressure of his jump turn the kid into a wildly-flaying rag-doll just hanging boneless from his belt as the two literally _flew_ very high in the sky.

“You took my autographs album, I just want it back.” Izuku answered, simply, and totally unfazed by the lethal height he was at, it was not like he could not safely glide back to the ground thanks to Blacklight, it was the first thing Heller taught him actually.

“Oh! That’s it? Here!” even if weirded-out a bit by their mid-air dialogue, All Might handed back the small book without a fuss.

“Thank you!” the boy answered with a happy smile, AND letting go of him so to fall down freely, presumably to a gruesome death.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” showing that he was totally unaware of the boy’s ‘_Simile-Quirk’_ powers, All Might shrieked in fear and with bulged-out eyes as he barely managed to grab the front of the boy’s clothes in time to stop his fall and keep him airborne until both could land from the jump on an isolated rooftop away from prying eyes.

“I let go of you, like you asked.” the boy replied as soon as both landed.

“I never did ask you that!” All Might answered.

“Oh! Sorry then.”

“Not a problem, all that matters is that you are-_**Bluah!**_” the Pro Hero answered before puking a big mouthful of blood on the kid’s face before somehow ‘_Deflating’_ into a scrawny, malnourished version of himself pretty much a third of his former size looking like a skeleton with some skin threw on haphazardly.

“...”

“...A-Are you okay?” Izuku asked, looking VERY perturbed by the abrupt change.

“...This is going to be hard to explain.” All Might answered with a defeated sigh.

**Two Hours later – Maid Cafe – **(**A fast call to Inko and a LOOONG explanation later) -**

“Here you go! Soda for you AND tea for your uncle.” the pretty girl in maid outfit said with a gentle smile as she delivered the order, and leaving with a small wink that made All Might blush a little.

“So...Three hours time limit?” Izuku asked once the two were once again alone.

“I underestimated my enemy and got reminded why that is a bad strategy, and no matter what I try, I can’t fix the organs he damaged, and on top of that my Time Limit keeps getting shorter. I just…’_Wasted away_’ until I became like this, I guess? It’s a miracle in itself if I still have a semblance of a stomach and respiratory system worth its name...” the Pro Hero answered with a sigh.

“Oh.” the kid answered, looking sad.

“I ruined the myth, eh?” All Might asked with a bitter smile, as if feeling ashamed of himself.

“What? No! I am just sad that you got hurt! You are still my Hero, no! You are THE Hero!” Izuku answered with shining eyes of utter adoration.

“Uh?”

“You keep fighting no matter what! You help the weak and fight evil just because that’s the right thing to do! I want to be a Hero just like you! Not like...Not like Mountain Lady...She...She always holds Live Streams during her interventions...Or like Power Boy taking selfies after every job so to collect likes and followers. You do it just because, not-not to sell merchandise.” Izuku answered, looking a bit shy when ‘_bad-mouthing’_ the man’s colleagues.

“Huhuhu! I do have themed merchandise too.” taking it in stride, the Pro Hero answered with a friendly chuckle while drinking.

“Yeah, but you give most of the money to charity.” the boy muttered.

“_To be fair, I too did those things during my first days as Hero, we all get corrupted by the UA’s ‘_Idol-like Heroes’_ mentality at some point, most then luckily snap out of it, but I guess he is a bit ‘_Blind’_ when it comes to me._” All Might also thought amused, watching the kid still squirm a little at the idea of catching a drink with him, his idol, even after uncovering his little dirty secret.

“If I can ask...”

“Y-Yes?!” Izuku answered, immediately.

“What were you doing there with Sludge? He is a dangerous criminal, his Quirk make him a threat for unsuspecting civilians.”

“I-I want to be a Hero like you, so when he said he wanted to take over a body to hide from the Police (and apparently you)...I-I acted without thinking and tried to stop him. I could not let let him hurt some innocent passer-by just because they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, H-Heroes exist to stop that from happening.” Izuku answered with a small voice.

“He could have took over yours, you risked a lot.” All Might answered, a bit harsh and a bit impressed at the same time.

“I never considered that, I just wanted to stop him from hurting others.”

“**Take over his body?** **I wish! His Quirk tried to eat me!**” Sludge’s voice came in answer from the bottle inside the man’s pocket.

“Your Quirk?” the Hero asked.

“_If asked, downplay your abilities! Blacklight was a damn nightmare years ago! People may still have data even after centuries!”_ at the question, Heller’s voice rang inside Izuku’s head making him flinch.

“I-I am basically a Quirkless, I just have a very good immunity system. That’s all.” Izuku answered with a red face.

“_**Ah**_**! Immunity my ass! You-”**

“Quiet down you!” All Might hissed annoyed, and shoving the bottle deeper inside the same back-pack he had hidden his Hero costume in, making any further words too muffled to understand.

“I-I just wanted to help.” Izuku added.

“_So he has a very ‘_Basic and/or useless’_ Quirk instead of a flashy one, those are treated just as badly as being Quirkless by other kids when growing-up...It would explain his meek attitude, must have been ostracized pretty badly at school. __Why this sounds so damn familiar?_” All Might thought with narrowed eyes at some bitter memories of his own childhood.

“So, even if without actual powers, you want to be a Hero?” he asked.

“Y-Yes!” the boy squeaked-out.

“The only school I know that could make it possible, would be U.A High-school...But even then, at best you could apply for the ‘_Hero Support Class’_. You know this?” the Pro Hero asked.

“Aren’t they Heroes too? They still help others a-and give people hope!” the kid answered.

“_Now, THAT is a good answer. __So you do have a nice heart other than bravery in there._” All Might thought, pleased.

“So you want to be a Hero for? Money? Fame? Girls?” he tried asking.

“Who in their right mind wants to be a Hero to woo girls?” Izuku asked back, confused.

“Waaay more people than you may believe.” the other replied grimacing, and taking a long sip of tea as if to drown some unpleasant memories.

“Oh.” the kid muttered, looking extremely disappointed.

“And what about being the ‘_Top Dog’_? They want that too?” he asked, looking away as if personally hurt by his own question.

“That happens quite often too, you know somebody like that?” Immediately getting flashes of the Hero ‘_Endeavor’ _springing to mind, All Might shot back with a calculative gaze.

“I may know somebody like that.._._” the other muttered, uneasy, with his tone gaining an icy edge towards the end.

“_I bet you know that person VERY WELL, and something tells me they have some ‘Good Quirks’ and are not afraid to remind people of that...As always, e__ven with the best power in the world you could still make a terrible hero. You also need the drive and the bravery to help people when things get tough __other than destructive abilities__...__And you, __kid,__ do have the bravery__...__But d__o you __also __have this __needed __drive, Izuku Midoriya?_” getting a rather dark brainwave, All Might got up from his seat abruptly.

“A-A-All Might, sir?” the kid asked, unnerved by the sudden movement.

“If you really are ‘_As good as Quirkless’_...” the man asked with narrowed eyes.

“_Oh, God he knows I am lying! He is onto me!...Of course he knows, HE IS ALL MIGHT!_” getting a bit blind-sided by his own fanboy-ism, Izuku just looked at the man while shaking.

“And if you really want to be a Hero still, I will test you a little: go through the ‘_T__est__’_ I will prepare for you in a way that will impress me on your own strength and I will help you become the Hero you want to be.” he declared.

“_With my own strength? Without using the Blacklight? How much has he figured out?!” _mentally shrieking in fear at his own over-blown imagination, the boy gave a shaking nod in answer.

“Good! Come at this address tomorrow and we will start your test immediately.” All Might declared, rapidly writing the address on a napkin, paying the bill and walking out with rapid steps.

“I-I-I’ll be there!” Izuku answered.

“Good boy!” the Hero answered with a happy smile.

“_I hope you know what you are doing...The kid may not __be what I need, but the torch must be passed on..._” All Might thought while idly touching his chest where he felt the slight _pull_ still acting-up whenever he looked at the kid.

**Parking lot – Not too far away - **

As soon as he got outside, the man moved in an isolated parking lot, and as soon as he was certain nobody was around, he fished-out a cellphone and hit the speed-dial number of an old acquaintance.

“Yo! It’s me.” he said.

“_Yes?”_ the voice at the other side answered.

“Is it a bad moment?”

“_No, no. We’re giving the last adjustments to a new training schedule. What do you need?_”

“I may have met another good candidate.” All Might said.

“_...__I am listening_.”

“Supposedly ‘_useless’_ Quirk, good heart, optimal aptitude and clear view of what a real _**Hero**_ is.” the Pro Hero listed.

“_Sounds __both __good on paper __and eerily familiar__. Physical Aptitude?_”

“Apparently very average, just a schoolboy, but above average Stamina and speed as he had apparently managed to chase and keep up with Sludge; the guy slipped me while _**I**_ was chasing him, so at the very least the boy chased him for a good twenty minutes. That’s how long it took me to get a drop on the guy again.”

“_Uhm...Not too shabby then, if it’s close enough to how events __actually__ went._ _What do you think, personally?_”

“He remembered me of myself, same bright eyes and ideals about being a Hero.”

“_You were actually Quirkless though._”

“He says he has just a good immunity system, since that almost _ate_ Sludge when he tried to take over his body. Even if I think the boy is hiding something, his abilities should not be any greater; at least not with the low self-esteem he has at the moment. You know how kids are with people with ‘_Not_ _Cool_’ Quirks.”

“_Treated pretty much like full-fledged_ ‘Quirkless_’. I know that e__ven too __well, there is a couple of them with similar issues in every new class __every year__.__”_

“_So he is l__ike I was before you ‘_found me’_, sensei?”_ another voice, way younger, asked.

“Did you put me on speaker?!”

“_Sorry about that, I wanted to hear his own opinion on the matter.”_

“That is sly and underhanded.”

“_Perhaps.”_

“_What do you plan to do, mister All Might sir?_” the young voice asked.

“He seemed to show the right _**mental**_ attitude to be a good Hero, but I want to test his physical one. Should he show the good drive, I want to put a good word for him for the Hero Course, not the Support one he clearly planned for.”

“_And what about...”_

“That is an issue not for now.”

“_Sir?”_

“Yes?”

“_Can I watch your test too?_”

“...Yes, but why?”

“_I want to see him sir, if he really is like I used to be, then I too want to help him, we all deserve a chance, __is not a powerful Quirk that makes a Hero__.”_

“Well said, we all deserve a chance...” All Might muttered, talking too low even for the phone to pick-up.

“What do you think, Nighteye?” he finally asked.

“_Uhm, I’ll be there as well, you are hardly impressed by __aspiring Heroes__, so if this kid got you even just curious, then I will check him out __myself__, BUT he has to impress me, __otherwise I will de facto fight your own recommendation, __for his sake and health though, nothing personal__.”_

“Always the harsh one, but I agree. About your boy instead, ready to show him off like you wanted? I can come there immediately.”

“_Please don’t treat me like a nice car, sensei!_” the young voice asked, sounding a bit ashamed.

“_Well, you kinda are!”_

“_Sensei!_”

“Hahahaha! Ookay! We have a plan then! Get him ready and proper, I am coming over.”

“_He will be ready.”_ the voice at the other side answered, closing the call immediately.

“So...Two possible candidates, I wonder where this will go...” All Might muttered with a sigh as he started walking towards the U.A High School building.

**Meanwhile – with Izuku - **

“_A PRO HERO IS ONTO YOU!? YOU DAMN MORON!_” Izuku too was on the phone, and as soon as he got the full story of what happened, Heller immediately started yelling at full power at him in blind anger.

“I swear I was cautious!” Izuku answered.

“_APPARENTLY NOT ENOUGH! I TOLD YOU ALREADY: We can’t risk __having others find-out__ that the Blacklight Virus is still around! Hiding between the crowd of people with Quirks can help only so much if you go around showing-off!”_ Heller answered.

“I was not showing-off! I never show-off! That’s why people still think I am Quirkless! And treat me like one.”

“_I already told you that I am sorry for forcing you to lie THIS LOW_,_ but this doesn’t change the fact that y__ou clearly let slip something that made him suspicious! Whatever, so he wants to test you tomorrow? Standing by your words he may very well be trying to make you slip and see if you are hiding something: Bastard must think that since you are 14 and are being tested by your absolute favourite Hero you will do everything in your power and impress him.”_

“What should I do then? I do want to impress him...” he asked.

“_I’ll be at your place in ten minutes, and be ready to pull an all-night because I am teaching you ‘_How to lock down Blacklight powers completely so to appear utterly human 101_’! __W__hen that bastard will test you you will register as above average ph__y__sical__ly for somebody your age__, but nothing super-human. I will also be there hidden, just in case. __We’ll make sure you will shine for being yourself, not your powers.” _Heller declared.

“S-S-Shine? But what if they decide I am not cut to be a Hero?”

“_Not cut to be a Hero? Back in the days you did not need a fucking License to do the right thing! They don’t want you to join their pretty school __even if you have heart and head in the right place__? Then you’ll go Vigilante on their ass! Normal school kid by day and hero by night, __easy as pie!__”_

“That is illegal...”

“_That’s why it’s called ‘_Vigilante Job’_, what’s important is the final result: saving the day. It __still__ doesn’t mean you can’t just spy on ‘Pro Heroes’ or whatever and copy them __if you are worried about lacking something__, __big deal.”_

“Okay, I-I’ll trust you.”

“_That you do, kiddo. I’ll turn you into a Hero even if it’s the last thing I do._”

“Thank you, James.” Izuku answered, smiling with a touched expression on his face.

“_...__You are doing it.”_

“What?”

“_Smiling, smiling that fucking innocent smile that makes people feel warm and fuzzy.”_

“I am not!” the blushing kid answered, still smiling.

“_I can feel my blood turn into syrup, so I know you are doing that. Damn it.”_ Heller said, grumbling and cutting off the call abruptly.

“Thank you, James, I’ll be a great Hero, just you wait.” Izuku declared before hurrying home.

**.End of Chapter 1.**

**I AM TRYING TO SPREAD INFO AND BACKSTORY THROUGH FEW CHAPTERS!  
I DON’T WANT INFO-DUMPS AND THIS WAS EVEN TOO CLOSE TO BEING ONE!  
I HAVE A PLAN, JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE!  
Thank you, I like to think that by now I showed that you can trust me, even just a little. **

**Extra File – Hero Costume -**

Heller watched the short message Izuku sent him detailing how he actually got into U.A High School, and the man could tell the boy was still _SQUEALING_ while typing that short message, he just needed to see how shaky the picture of the acceptance letter Izuku sent along his message was.

“Well, he did it alright. Going to need to think about a present then.” Himiko said.

“A present?” James asked back, confused.

“You are his mentor, you are supposed to give him a present as well.” the girl replied.

“What about you?”

“I am baking him a pie with my own hands! So you won’t ride my coattails, you stingy asshole.”

“I did not plan to...” the man replied, lamely.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Let’s see...Ah-ha!” at that the man scrolled through his phone’s contact lists until he found the one he needed.

“_...__Hello?_” the woman’s voice at the other side asked as soon as she picked-up.

“I need a favour.” Heller said, immediately down to business.

“_Of course you need one, _dhaling_! I knew you would have accepted my offer for some lessons in etiquette.”_

“It’s not about that, you midget!”

“_A pity, you really need some. What’s it then?”_ she replied, sighing dejected at the man’s lack of manners.

“Do you still make Super Hero suits or have already fully switched to dressing-up _Supermodels_?” Heller asked.

“_Supermodels?! There is NOTHING Super about them. Spoiled stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only of themselves. I used to design for GODS!_” the woman answered with a loud, vitriolic tirade that forced James to move away the phone from his ear.

“I get it that Super Heroes still have it hard on that side of the globe then?” He said.

“_You have no idea, dahling. I am just getting back from a fashion show in Milan and I am already so _tired_ of this ‘mundane’ take on fashion that it will be a miracle if I do not hang myself before this stupid jet lands._”

“So I guess asking for your help with a little project of mine is impossible?” Heller asked with a savage predatory smile.

“_Totally impossible! I am far too busy!...So ask away before I recover my sanity!_” she answered immediately, sounding painfully eager.

“I am tutoring a boy into becoming a Pro Hero here in Japan and he just got accepted in U.A High School, so I was told that as a Mentor I have to give him a present.”

“_And you immediately thought about me, isn’t it, Dahling?_” the woman asked with a superior smirk.

“I remembered that you used to do this for a living, since you never shut-up about it when I used to be your bodyguard years ago.” James answered.

“_I was just trying to give you some lessons in style, you can manipulate your entire being and create your own clothes and yet you prefer going around dressed like a homeless pauper!_”

“Whatever. Can you do it? The boy has my same identical powers, so I guess you already know what to do.”

“_I have some ideas already in my back-burner I was keeping warm in case you caved-in, Dahling. But I will need measurements and more details about him to do a proper job, you know it.”_

“I will send you few pictures of him along an update about his powers, as for measurements, I will just steal those from the A.U School as soon as they take them, so he won’t suspect a thing.”

“_Please do, they have a dreadful sense of style when it comes to Hero Costumes! They either go ‘_Stripper’_ or ‘_Over-achieving.’_. I will make sure at least ONE Hero in Japan dresses properly. Leave it to me._” the woman said.

“Thank you, as for the money-”

“_This’ one will be on me, dahling. You will pay for repairs and that’s it, I have a subsidiary branch in Japan, they will be able to fix any damage SHOULD that happen, but the main stitching and design: _**I**_ will take care of that.” _

“Thank you.”

“_Think nothing of it, dahling! Just send me the details as soon as possible, in the meantime I will take care of the materials and the design. I’ll call you once I am ready to ship it to you, Ta-ta!_” the woman answered, closing the call.

“And the present has been taken care of.” Heller declared, smugly.

“Who was it?” Himiko asked.

“The best.”

**At the same time – Private jet – airspace over the ocean - **

_Di-dling!_

“...Now, that is a nice smile if I ever saw one.” the very short woman admitted as soon as she saw the pictures of Izuku Heller sent her.

“Uhm...I think I will go with a nice shade of green, to compliment his hair, but I need to add something more to it: something Bold! But at the same time Elegant, Functional and Simple! YES!” she said while taking a near note pad and immediately starting to draw prototypes as the old fire inside her Artist heart ignited again.

“And I already know what material to use to create a costume for somebody with powers like that...”

“_Hello?”_ the guy on the phone answered, groggily.

“Rise and shine! I need your endo-sym fibers to accompany my new _Ultra Mesh_ I am using for a Super Suit for a friend. The Suit must be able to transform just like its owner and protect him, along temporarily patch-up small tears until proper repairs can be done. And I need your creation to act as support for this to happen.”

“_Why should I give you something I normally use for my own armors, Edna?”_ the man answered, huffing.

“After everything that happened last Christmas, dahling, I thought I held you wrapped around my finger! I mean, I still have the pictures.” she answered, smirking.

“..._I hate you with every fiber of my billionaire, alcoholic being. How much of the stuff do you want?_” the other answered with an inhuman growl after a long pause of horror.

“I’ll soon send you the details of the Suit, so if you want you can add some details/variations of your own...IF you do not turn it into a hobo suit, that is. It’s a big concession this one, dahling.”

“_If I have a spare minute.”_

“I also have pictures of the following End of Year’s Party.”

“_DAMNIT! Okay, I will help you!”_

“Thank you, Tony.”

“_Yeah, yeah. Just send the details along, you evil witch!...Jarvis, remind me to make sure nobody has cameras next time..._” the man answered while closing the call.

“He didn’t even say goodbye, always the same rude kid.” the woman said in distaste.

**Some time later – U.A High School - Classroom -**

The class was going through a small pause between lessons when the door went opened to show a girl with googles on her head and pink hair many recognized as Mei Hatsume: the invention maniac from the school’s Department of Support (_Class 1-H_), she had a thick parcel in her hands.

“Hey, Midoriya! You got a package!”

“Ah! Thank you! That must be the present James talked about!” Izuku answered, immediately opening it to see the completed Hero costume.

A green full-body skin-tight jumpsuit with a red belt, dull-black arm braces, dull-black leg guards that reached up to his thighs and beige gloves decorated with blue stripes that had been created to deal with and support his limbs transforming abilities, along with red boots with metal soles able to sustain his leg power.

It also had a hood with long ear-like protrusions that resembled All Might's haircut with included a metal, diamond-shaped mask with eight holes that doubled as respirator; that had been added because the boy adored the Hero, so the two designers begrudgingly caved-in and added it as a personal present to the boy.

“NOW! That is not half bad! You made it yourself?” Mei asked, curious, and shamelessly pulling it away from Izuku’s hands to study it.

“N-No! W-Well, A friend of mine asked a friend of his and-”

“_**SKRIFUBLU!”**_ a strangled, unhealthy and indescribable sound came out of the girl’s throat as soon as she saw some details of the suit thanks to her eyes’ _Zooming_ Quirk.

“T-t-this is like a-a superior version of _Super Mesh_! I ONLY SAW DEEP-WEB PICTURES OF IT! I thought the Americans never let this get out of the border! A-A-And it’s linked to a layer of nano-bots-made _cloth_ sandwiched between two layers of mesh acting real time in response to any movement! This thing is as _Alive _as it can get! WHO DID THIS!?” she asked, getting way too close to Izuku’s face, uncaring of his personal space.

“I have no idea, I swear!” the poor boy answered.

“There must be some recognizable logo or...or...or...” it was then that she saw it, right inside the neck area: two logos, one in elegant calligraphy that had been evidently sewn there by hand and under it a logo instead branded in place by a machine, and seeing both _together_ on the same suit had her eyes bulge out tremendously.

_ **E-Mode** _

_ **Stark Industries** _

“HOW DID YOU GET _**THOSE TWO**_ TO DESIGN YOU A SUIT TOGETHER!?” Mei’s scream at that point became legendary, exploding the windows and turning whoever had ‘_Hearing-Oriented’_ Quirks in the whole school momentarily deaf.

Easy to say, from that moment onward Izuku’s days as a schoolboy became, if possible, even more hectic as he went stalked tirelessly by the genius girl in hope to get more details out of him.

**End of the extra file.**

**I can already tell I could do better for a first chapter, but I honestly tried my best, ** **even if ** **I have no idea how much ‘** _ **Original’** _ ** I managed to remain compared to the MANY fanfictions that have been already written on this show.**

**As you have certainly already understood, I am changing the dynamics between Izuku and Mirio, just like I will also slightly modify the dynamics between Little _Deku_ and ‘_Song of Ice and Fire’_ Todoroki, because I actually like that silly bi-coloured head of his, he looks serious but not insufferably so, sorry. :)**

**Also yes, the two _Designers_ behind Izuku’s costume in this story are Canon. **

**Because I said so. **

**Sorry again.**


	2. Virus.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Might tests Izuku, and the boy gets through it without using his Powers to hide his being in possession of the Blacklight Virus, but lies never last long, and it's about time for him and Heller to come out clean and reveal their secret...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fairly sure this is a cliché by now, but since I was late to the party, this was to be expected, so, fingers crossed in hope this won’t suck too much!  
PS: I don’t like Bakugo nor Mineta, I hope this won’t be a problem. (no Bashing).  
(I want to try explore the full scope of what something like the Blacklight can do, it can’t possibly just be all about creating a couple weapons and eat people...)
> 
> Pairing: Deku/ Ochako Uraraka/ Himiko Toga.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia or anything else I will use nor I make a profit out of this, I am writing just for the pleasure of doing it.

**Dagobah Municipal Beach - **

The place was a real junkyard, junk of every size and shape having been washed on the beach through the years and accumulated to ridiculous levels, to the point even specialized groups had more than once admitted defeat in front of the overwhelming quantity of garbage deposited there.

“Here we are! This is the place.” All Might, still in his real scrawny form, said with a wide smile as he proudly showed to Izuku the mountains of stuff littering the place.

“Lovely...” the boy answered, unsure.

The boy was unaware that another Pro Hero was secretly watching his every move while accompanied by his own pupil, even if the other aspiring Hero was a bit disappointed that All Might was not present as promised.

He, just like many others beside a very small group of trusted individuals, didn’t know that the skeletal guy everybody knew as ‘_All Might’s secretary’_ was instead the Hero himself.

“So what am I supposed to do?” Izuku asked.

“I want you to clean this place completely.” the Pro Hero answered, smirking.

“EEEEH?!”

“You have until the entrance exam at the U.A High School, manage this and I will help you become the Hero you are destined to be.”

“_...He must know something, there is too little time to make it possible for a simple human to clean this. He must suspect I am hiding something...UNLESS! Maybe he knows and wants to see if I am overly-dependent on my powers! So he must be suspecting something and wants to test me, the _ME_ beside the powers! __I can do this!_” the young boy thought in determination, and doing as James taught him, he focused hard until he managed to _suppress_ the powers of the Blacklight Virus to the point his strength was barely above a normal human his age.

“I’ll do it!” he declared.

“Then off you go! This lovely beach won’t clean itself.” All Might answered with a pleased nod.

“_He is determined, that much I can give him...Even if he looks like something a strong wind could blow away.”_ from his hiding spot, Nighteye muttered with a low voice.

“_So mean!” _the boy with him answered.

“_I am not being mean, M__i__rio, __if ever, I am actually __worried about him._” Nighteye answered.

“Ooooough!” in the meantime, Izuku kept moving away small objects by the arm-fulls.

“_At least he is being smart about this, had he started with the big ones, he would have burned too much energy __and not managed to do much today__._”

“_He has energy for an army, sensei._” Mirio answered, impressed.

“_Uhmmm. __That he does._”

“_Uh?”_ the young man looked at his mentor with a curious expression, unsure about the man’s strange intense gaze.

“Hohoho! Working hard, youngsters?” a new voice said, making _everybody_ (_Spying heroes comprised_) jump in fright as none of them saw the old lady in question join the scene.

“O-Obaa-san! Good evening!” All Might greeted the strange old lady with a respectful bow, while Izuku behind him had a moment of realization as he recognized WHO the old lady really was.

“I hope this is not child labor...Is it?” the old grandma asked while nailing All Might with a stern glare.

“O-Of course not! Just testing the boy for a little while.” the Pro Hero answered immediately.

“Testing?” she asked, sounding even more suspicious.

“Just a small test, nothing more.”

“I will keep my eyes on you, youngster, just in case you are trying something fun with this boy. Don’t think you are too old for me to spank!” the old woman answered while sitting on an abandoned fridge lying half broken on its side.

“Nonono! There is no need for spanking, madame.” All Might answered, shaking his head wildly.

“Good. Go on, boy, show this scrawny thing how strong you are.”

“Yes, Obaa-san!” Izuku answered with a wide smile.

**Several days later – the last day before Izuku’s deadline - **

From dawn to dusk, with barely a small pause to eat, young Izuku worked tirelessly day after day to move away as much garbage he could, but without the added strength given to him by the Blacklight and doing his best even if he already knew he could not manage the feat, especially with cars and other _heavy_ garbage that would require either a full Team of people with heavy machinery or at least a _Super Strength _Quirk to succeed, let alone doing it in the accorded time.

“What time is it?” All Might finally asked.

“Almost Noon.” the same old woman that had come to cheer for Izuku every single day without fail answered nonplussed once checked her watch.

“I think that’s enough then...” the Pro Hero declared with a sigh.

“Uhm?” the utterly dirty Izuku uttered, unsure.

“I saw enough.” the other clarified.

“Oh! So? What do you think?” the boy asked.

“You have a good enough grasp of what a Hero is supposed to be, you have the drive to push through any challenge on your path no matter how helpless and you never actually argued about a clearly impossible task being shoved on you. But unfortunately you are not what I am looking for...Physically speaking, I mean.” All Might said.

“So I am not fit to be a Hero?” Izuku asked, looking utterly _broken_ by the news.

“Uh? Not that! I meant...It doesn’t matter. What is important is that I know you can be a wonderful addition to the Support Squad, and I can only expect great things from you once there.” All Might clarified.

“Oh! Thank you then.” Izuku answered while looking definitely happier at hearing that, it was not like he had not planned to enter the Support Class and _THEN_ get a place in the main Hero Course during the school’s famous ‘_Sport Festival_’ through subtle use of the Blacklight Virus so to still keep most of his abilities hidden.

“So it was an entrance Test for becoming a Hero? Good job then!” the old lady said before clapping a little.

“Yep! And he passed that nicely.” All Might answered.

“Thank you for your time, Mister.” Izuku said, bowing deeply towards the Pro Hero.

“Think nothing of it. Well, I guess we’ll go our separate ways then, take care! I will see you tomorrow at the Entrance Test!” the Pro Hero said, walking away to secretly meet with Nighteye and Mirio.

“Bye!” the young kid answered, cheerfully waving at his retreating back.

“...”

“...Well, it went better than expected.” the old lady said with a masculine, deep voice as soon as the Hero disappeared from sight.

“At least he doesn’t know about Blacklight. We managed to hide it...” Izuku answered, collapsing tiredly to sit on the floor and making his clothes ripple heavily.

“Is hard to keep it subdued, isn’t it? I am ready to bet the thing was itching to Hell and back to wake-up.” Heller said smirking as the old lady disguise he was wearing exploded into a shapeless blob of Bio-Mass that then returned into being his original form, young as he was the first time he himself got infected.

“You have no idea.” the boy answered.

“The good news is that we still have enough time to cram a quick review of what you know in the few hours you have before dinner. Inko will have my ass on a platter if I take you home late. You ready?” James asked while grabbing an abandoned van missing both tires and engine and lifting it with one hand as if it weighted nothing.

“Let’s start with something easy. The Blade.” he asked.

“Yes.” Izuku answered, and both his arms broke apart and rebuilt themselves to form two giant blades with jagged edges taking the place of his hands, and long enough to have the tip slightly touch the ground, held in place by thick root-like bundles of over-sized muscles intertwined together to form ‘_Arms’_ twice the sized of his human ones.

“...How can somebody so harmless-looking have such a brutal version of my powers still escapes me.” James admitted with a deadpan tone.

“I am not doing this on purpose!” Izuku answered.

“Whatever. Cut this.” Heller answered, nonplussed, and throwing the van like a mere softball at the boy making it travel at a couple hundred miles per hour.

“Ah!” the schoolkid grunted, and using his left arm-blade to easily cut the van in two like a hot knife through butter so that both halves could harmlessly fly past him at his sides.

“GOOD! Finally your blades have the proper durability! Now for something smaller...CUT!” Heller answered, throwing everything he could put his hands on in random directions so to force Izuku to hop around and even twisting mid-air to cut as many of them as he could.

“Nice to see you have not slacked off! Very well, warming is over, it’s time for the real training.”

**One Hour later - **

“Faster with those claws! I want to see this garbage be reduced to nothing!” Heller ordered sharply.

“Yes!” Izuku answered, now with each hand morphed into what James called ‘_Claw Form’_, and each of the five long blades that had took the place of the boy’s fingers were working overtime to cut everything in front of him to pieces, turning the long line of car parts, cabinets, fridges and whatnot into tiny scraps no bigger than an orange.

“I am falling asleep here! FASTER!” channeling the soldier inside him, Heller bellowed again.

**One hour later - **

“Hop! Hop! Hop! Fast, kiddo! The Villain threw a lot of people down the building so you better save them!” once done with the claws, Heller had collected hundreds of pieces of glass, cracked vases and other very fragile stuff and kept throwing them up in the air for Izuku to catch.

“_**Bio-Net!**_” Izuku yelled as he kept throwing fist-sized balls of goo that then exploded into _webs_ of adhesive black tendrils that caught the falling objects before they could fall to the ground and break.

“Bio-Net? What the hell is that?!”

“I-I-I wanted to give it a name...”

“God, you sound like a damn anime character if you call-out your attacks like that.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, is not like it makes a difference, as long as you like doing it, then do it.”

“Thanks. You sure these will disappear?”

“The tendrils are 100% biodegradable and hold inside nothing of the Blacklight virus. It is actually the exact same compound of normal spiderwebs, only black and XXL in size. Now shut up and do not slack off!”

“Yes!”

**One Hour Later - **

“One, Two! One, Two! One, Two! Keep the rhythm!” Heller instructed as he held up vertically the driving cabin of a truck to use it as a sandbag of sort for Izuku to punch freely.

_ **Crash! Crash! Crash!** _

“Like this?” the boy asked, arms now still looking normal, only full-black and with his fists having the fingers fused together to form a solid block of hardened skin and bones, also, small pointy stubs could be seen protruding forward from his knuckles; as he kept punching with a Boxer stance, the truck cabin kept getting flatter and flatter.

“Good, remember your leg-work too, it helps putting your entire body weight behind every punch. If you are so adamant in using only _blunt attacks,_ the Tendrils and _Muscle Mass_ powers must be trained to perfection.”

“I know.”

“Good!...I’ll take another target and we’ll continue.” Heller said, personally _folding_ the poor remains of the truck himself so to throw it onto the giant pile of other _flattened_ garbage the boy produced.

**One Hour later - **

“One hundred…One Hundred and one...One hundred and two...Bend those knees more!” Heller ordered.

“Yes!” Izuku answered, he was holding on his back a tall tower of heavy garbage and using that as weights to make his squats harder.

“Twenty tonnes is still too little, you need to train more.” James commented.

“I am training.” Izuku, utterly drenched in sweat, answered with a strained voice.

“Yeah, but we need to increase the weight.”

“Again!?” the boy shrieked, horrified.

“Blacklight increases your strength _exponentially_, but only up to a certain point! You also need a good base strength, increase that and you will increase the final power you will put-out with Blacklight! So do not think that you can skip on basic training.”

“I won’t skip it!” Izuku answered, looking almost offended at the accusation.

“Good boy! Also, good job with the _**Whipfist**_, having it ricochet like that from every surface is a good strategy.”

“Thank you.” the boy answered with a small shy smile.

“Uhmmm...We almost ran out of time, you know what this means.”

“No..._Pain Training_ no...” Izuku whimpered with a pale face.

“Don’t worry, before that you will also give me few hundred push-ups with weights. Now hurry and finish this set.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t be a wuss, having a good Pain Tolerance is useful as well, especially should you get showered in bullets by common thugs or get one or both arms torn off by a more serious threat, getting distracted by pain can be fatal.”

“Y-Yes.” the poor boy answered, his expression utterly miserable.

**Once the training session was finally over - **

After a total of six hours of non-stop training, Heller declared Izuku free to go back home, clearly satisfied by the results of his little ‘_Test’_ of the boy’s abilities.

“Already done? We finished early!” the boy said in surprise.

“Yep! You are as ready as you can be! Unfortunately once entered into that school we won’t be able to do this everyday like we used to, but if you keep a good training schedule for your body, you will learn everything else you need about your powers by yourself.”

“But I can ask you for help if I need, yes?” Izuku asked.

“Of course you can, kiddo! Come on, I’ll accompany you home, so you can help your mother prepare dinner.” James answered, ruffling the boy’s hair while enjoying his weak protests, and circling his small shoulders with an arm, he guided the boy outside once switched identity again…

Unknowingly passing right in front the hiding place of All Might, Nighteye and young Mirio.

“...The boy was not completely sincere.” Nighteye said, bluntly.

“He said he only had a good immunity system.” All might answered with a small voice.

“Listening to his mentor, he has been asked to hide his powers from everybody, why?” Mirio asked.

“Blacklight...The name sounds familiar. I need to check few things before we confront young Midoriya about it.” Nighteye said.

“Why confront him?” All Might asked.

“I did some digging after you talked about him when we met and while we watched him go through your test. And I discovered a medical file declaring him fully _Quirkless_, with several additions from a more advanced structure confirming it, and yet we saw him do all that.”

“Your office is close-by, you want to pass by there before going to his address?”

“If it is not a problem.”

“May as well.”

“Can I come too?” Mirio asked.

“If you want.” both Pro Heroes answered.

**Several hours later – Midoriya Household - **

James, Himiko and Izuku were helping Inko clean the table and wash the dishes after being coerced by the short woman to join her and her son for dinner, and Heller suspected she was doing this because “_For some reason_” she believed Himiko to have feelings for Izuku and wanted to give the two few excuses to be together.

“They are so cute!” Inko muttered, watching the two teens washing the dishes together and alone in the kitchen.

“Are you still going on with this idea of yours?” James asked.

“You boys are all the same no matter the age: you are just so helplessly blind!” the woman answered with a desperate sigh.

_Dling Dlong!_

“I’ll go.” Inko said, shaking her head at James’ hopeless case, and opening the door to see All Might and Nighteye look at her with a curious expression.

“May I help you?” She asked.

“We are looking for Mister Heller, we know he is here.”

“Who is it?” James asked, peeking towards the door.

“Mister James, we need to talk. About the Blacklight Virus and what happened almost two hundred years ago in New York.” Nighteye answered.

“...”

“Izuku, Himiko...Take Inko and run. I will keep them occupied as much as I can.” James ordered with a low and slow tone and turning both his hands into their Claw Form once returned to his original appearance, scaring Inko deeply with his transformation.

“What is happening here?!” the woman demanded with a scared voice.

“This way, mom...” Izuku said, talking slowly while he carefully positioned himself in front of her to gently push her away, all this while Himiko kept her narrowed eyes trained on the two Pro Heroes and welding the two biggest kitchen knives she could find.

“WAIT! Let’s calm down, we are not here to arrest anybody nor fight you.” Mirio said immediately, putting himself between the two groups.

“Sorry, kid! Last time I heard that I got shot by a squadron of soldiers.” James answered with a growl.

“Please let’s calm down. We really are here just to talk.” All Might added with a placating tone.

“Then talk, what do you want?”

“What do you know of the events of two hundred years ago? What really happened in New York? What was the “_Blacklight Disaster_” really? You talked as if you know that Virus really well.” Nighteye asked.

“What do you know?” James asked back with narrowed eyes.

“Not much, as with everything else from the _Pre-Quirk_ era, many details have been lost, and whatever remained, is not clear at best or a full-fledged myth at worst. What remains of the Blacklight ‘_Myth’_ is few incomplete accounts of monsters and horrible mutations brought forth by some bio-weapon that either turned people into bloodthirsty monsters, or even created nightmarish creatures worthy of a horror story.” Nighteye explained, showing the thick folder in his hand.

“I don’t trust you.” James declared.

“Understandable, but please, give us a chance to prove you we are not enemies.” All Might answered.

“...”

_Sigh!_ “Get a seat, this is gonna be a long story, but I guess you all should hear the full thing finally.” Once looked into Izuku’s eyes, James gave a long sigh and turned his arms back to normal.

**Two Hours later - **

“And...This is pretty much the whole thing, I guess.” James said once finally finished his tale.

“Impressive, so it was not a weapon of mass-destruction, but an artificial Quirk that could be mass-produced.” Nighteye exclaimed once Heller finished the ‘_fast’_ rendition of his story about himself, Alex Mercer, the Blacklight and everything that transpired so many years ago.

“I still don’t get why you call it a Quirk...This stuff was made to kill everybody, it was by chance that they saw what it could do to some people, then to them Blacklight became ‘_The Ticket to Humanity’s next step of Evolution’_. Some of those bastards were even too happy to see it as a sign that only the _**Worthy**_ could become Super-Humans, as if the Virus itself could elect Chosen Ones to uplift them.” James answered.

“AND YOU INFECTED MY BABY WITH THAT!?” Inko yelled while checking every inch of Izuku’s body with a horrified expression on her face.

“It was either that or letting him bleed to death, even by running at my top speed, I would have not been fast enough to take him to the nearest hospital.”

“So you took a gamble, Mister Heller?” Mirio asked.

“Not exactly, as soon as his blood touched my hands I felt a pull towards him, so I guessed it was the Blacklight inside me reacting to a compatible Host, and since I did not want a dead kid on my conscience, I helped him.”

“To be fair, I was there to help you, James...” Izuku muttered, uneasy.

“You tried to save a cocky adult even if you were just a kid, I am impressed.” All Might said, chuckling.

“Oh, he was pissing himself alright, and yet there he was pulling on my sleeve to force me to run to safety instead of just running away and leave me there...Bravery bordering on the idiocy, that’s him in a nutshell.” James answered, ruffling a little the boy’s hair and getting his hand slapped away by a still-angry Inko.

“I saved your son’s life, woman, a little bit of gratefulness would be appreciated.”

“_Umpf_!” Inko’s only answer was a more possessive hug of her son and an angry pout.

“All we know is that the _Blacklight Disaster _was caused by two terrorist attacks using bio-weapons to create mindless monsters, nothing more.” Nighteye explained.

“I am not surprised, I bet all those white-collared buffoons did everything in their power to destroy every proof of their involvement with the project, even the _Gentek Industries_ that actually created the thing were thrown under the bus as a scapegoat, those money-hungry bastards did not want their thousand-dollars suits dirtied by the mess.” Heller answered.

“That and probably discredit, or outright killing, whoever could testify about ‘_Super-powered humans’_ fighting in the streets like you mentioned. The entire Incident had to be _edited_ heavily so to leave other medical industries free to keep working on their project about Evolution.” Nighteye confirmed.

“And then...Quirks appeared, and the thing went abandoned completely.” All Might added.

“Uh?” Izuku muttered, unsure.

“What do you mean?” Mirio asked as well.

“I heard few stories from my mentor, and dear James here confirmed it...Ever since Quirks appeared two hundred years ago, we humans as a race have ‘_stagnated’_, we did not move forward too fast...Sometimes I wonder if we would have already colonized the stars by now if Quirks had not started popping-up all over the place.” the Pro Hero said with a wishful tone as he looked outside the window and towards the night sky.

“Or maybe, the Project for Humanity’s Evolution actually worked.” Heller countered, growling darkly.

“Eh?”

“Superpowers hardly appear out of nowhere. Back when I was a kid, Superpowers were stuff only found in Comic Books and movies or that very few ‘_Chosen ones_’ had; then several years after what happened between me and Mercer AND the decommissioning of _Gentek_ along the sudden disappearance of everything related to Blacklight, kids started showing-off Quirks right at birth or immediately after. You can’t tell me that it is all a coincidence.” James said with a low voice.

“You mean to tell me that whoever was the first to have a Quirk may have got it thanks to whoever inherited the notes of_ Gente__k_ about their experiments on Blacklight and the human DNA?” Mirio asked with wide eyes.

“What do I think? Everybody, no matter the Quirk, can discover if they have one thanks to a ‘_Standardized’_ Test you can take in any hospital or clinic, and kids hardly have the exact same Quirk of their parents. Everything starts from a casual mutation of always the same Gene that then influences the rest of the host DNA. For all we know, this could make Blacklight the precursor of the Quirks, the prototype of something that changed humanity forever once perfected.” Heller declared.

“This is surprisingly _heavy,_” Himiko admitted.

“You for example: if you ingest somebody’s blood you can copy their appearances, to the point of copying their Quirk if you want to become them hard enough...Sounds Familiar?” Heller said while circling through identities, either male or female or old or young.

“Your Consuming ability.” Izuku muttered.

“And yours, IF you actually Consume somebody.”

“I...I don’t want to...I-I wouldn’t be able to consider myself a Hero if I go around eating people, it is the exact opposite of who I want to be...” the kid answered.

“Then prepare to eat a lot, otherwise you won’t be able to store enough Bio-Mass to use your powers.” Heller answered, sighing.

“Creating a specific diet to have him have enough _proteins, iron, calcium_ and everything else is not a problem, Mister Heller, at worst, Consuming living animals as well can be a proper, more acceptable, alternative.” Nighteye answered.

“What do you mean?”

“I-I-I can be a Hero?” Izuku asked, hopeful.

“Of course you can! Everybody can be a Hero with the right attitude!” Mirio answered with a blinding smile.

“Sorry, but I can’t risk people knowing that the Blacklight Virus is still around.” Heller answered.

“As I said already: very few proofs of its existence have survived to reach us. As long as young Midoriya does not call his Quirk Blacklight, or any other keyword easily connected to that, nobody will know. It will be hard to explain why he results as _Quirkless_ still while exhibiting those powers, but coming-up with a new name for it will hardly be a problem.” Nighteye answered.

“That would be my fault, I kept track of Izuku while he was growing-up since I don’t need to eat or sleep (_meaning I didn’t need a job either_), so when he went to that specialized hospital to run new tests, I managed to sneak in and edit the results, the fact that with him Blacklight makes it actually physically impossible to steal/take his blood made it easier.” James explained.

“Kids are by default hyperactive and Izuku REALLY wanted to be a Hero...So...How?” Inko asked.

“How come nobody ever noticed? The Virus is all about ‘_Genetic Superiority’_, it rewrites the entire DNA of the Host, _**everything**_. The thing acts like a parasite and it wants its host to be ‘_perfect’ _for it_;_ I saw it in the memories of Mercer and the other people I Consumed: the best Hosts are fetuses, followed immediately by kids...Can you guess why?” James answered with a meaningful expression.

“They are still developing, something happening in a very smaller degree in adults. If the Virus wants to make its host as much _genetically perfect/__compatible_ as possible, then doing so while the host is still in a heavily-developing phase would be ideal as it would be able to _guide_ said development the way it _wishes_.” Nighteye answered.

“And you were four when you were first exposed.” All Might muttered.

“He never really showed signs of the infection before he hit ten years of age, by then the Virus was well underway to get the kid where it wanted him to be as a Host, so it could _spread its wings_ a little on the outside as well.” James said.

“It was then that he approached me...He explained what I could do and turned the whole thing into a game, comprised keeping it a secret from everybody until I could join the Hero Course. Of course then I grew-up and got this same story, by then I decided by myself to keep the Virus a secret to protect the life of the man who saved me.” Izuku added, looking at Heller with a grateful smile.

“Sorry about that, kiddo. God only knows I would have loved to see you kick the ass of that explosion-nuts kid.” James answered, sighing and yet smiling a little.

“I knew little Bakugo was getting unreasonable with his Quirk...” Inko muttered with a dejected expression.

“So he has been training with you about using his powers since he was ten?” All Might asked.

“Every single day,” Heller confirmed.

“And his Quirk has exceptional healing abilities...” Nighteye added.

“Mercer survived a nuclear explosion happening at few feet from him. If you are infected with Blacklight you become extremely hard to kill and almost impossible to wound...If you have enough Bio-mass in you that is.

Fire is a good way to deal with the Virus since without anything to Consume it can be easily incinerated, but it has to be an absurd quantity of heat in a very short time, and I am not talking about a simple explosion, I mean hundreds of thousands of degrees flaring in a second.”

“...We’ll keep an eye on Endeavor then, just in case he gets an inferiority complex against kids too.” All Might muttered to Nighteye, making him shake his head ruefully, but not actually denying the possibility.

“What about poisons? And Acid?” Mirio asked, curious.

“I took a bath into a vat of idroflouric acid once, courtesy of a mob boss I met forty years ago, it worked for about a second, then the Blacklight virus modified my Armor Form to withstand that as well. This thing _Evolves_ really damn fast, so acids or poisons or hallucinogens or even pheromones work for maybe few seconds, then the Virus automatically generates defenses against it.” Heller answered.

“Blunt force?” All Might asked.

“That is the worst thing to use against the Virus, it can be said that it doesn’t damage the Host at all, at best it _pushes _them around a bit or breaks them into chunks, nothing more; same for slicing attacks, IF said attack can cut through the armor power as well.”

“Then it may work...” All Might muttered.

“Uh?”

“Mirio...Izuku...What would you think to become my heirs?”

“EH!?” both teens shrieked at the same time.

“My Health is a mess, and the mantle of ‘_Icon of Hope’_ many gave to me must be passed on, there must be one to keep the fire of Justice running, and with my deteriorating Time Limit...I can’t be it, not for long.” he explained.

“What he is saying is...All Might will soon die.”

“DIE!? OF WHAT!? WHY!? HOW?!” Izuku yelled in horror.

“Why he never said anything? Somebody could have helped!” Mirio added with a more calm tone.

“What my friend mean is that the _**Figure**_ of All Might is about to die, not me _personally._” the Pro Hero explained while nailing Nighteye with a scathing glare.

“To be fair, I could have phrased it a bit better.” the other admitted, nonplussed.

“No shit, Sherlock.” James added, rolling his eyes.

“Y-You are All Might?” Mirio asked, shocked.

“Yup! Nice to meet you, my name is Toshinori and I am All Might! And as for now I can’t maintain that transformation for more than three hours a day...Not if I don’t want to make my condition worse and put my life in danger with further transformations.” the blond hero answered with a bitter smile.

“Oh...You don’t seem surprised, Izuku-kun.”

“I discovered it by chance.” the green-haired kid answered.

“You got his attention by chasing Sludge around and with your determination to pass his test without using the Blacklight Virus and its powers, along with the sheer will to never disclose what you can do. Mirio too is a candidate, for pretty much the same reasons as you.

You two are physically and mentally perfect for what he needs, especially taking in consideration your ideals and attitude.” Nighteye added.

“What are you two planning?” Inko asked with narrowed eyes, and Himiko too gained a sinister light in hers as she too smelled how _fishy_ the entire deal was.

“My Quirk is _Special_: it can’t be stolen, but it can be willingly passed on to others, like passing a torch to the new Generation. I was Izuku’s age when I got it, and have been holding high the legacy of the _**One for All**_ Quirk ever since, but with me being reduced like this, one day I risk to completely lose the ability to tap into it, I am not even sure I would be able to pass it on should that happen.” Toshinori explained.

“So you need an_ Heir_ of sort to pass that Quirk to before that happens. And a Highly-trained kid like Mirio or a super-regenerating and adapting kid like Izuku are the best candidates? What are the downsides of that Quirk then?” James asked.

“You got the nail on the head! When used at full power _**One for All**_ puts an insane strain on the body and mind of the user in exchange of a really explosive power boost. When I first met young Midoriya I thought that somebody like him would hardly use this Quirk, but since I believed him to be a _Quirkless_ like I was before receiving it, I admit I got a bit impartial.”

“He reminded you of yourself, eh?” James asked.

“Quite a bit actually.” All Might answered.

“You have a Quirk already, Mirio-san?” Izuku asked.

“Yes, I can turn intangible at will, and if I return tangible while inside a solid object I will be repelled outward at high speed.” Mirio answered with a proud wink and thumbs-up.

“AMAZING! So you can phase through attacks or ambush enemies or spy everywhere or-” Izuku, going full ‘_Geek Mode’_ started talking at high speed before James’ hand forcefully covered his mouth to shut him up.

“Yes to all that, it still feels weird since I feel like I am basically ‘_falling through’_ everything, air and light comprised, but thanks to Sir Nighteye I have become good at calculating trajectory and position on the fly while ‘_Blind’_ and ‘_Deaf’_.” Mirio answered, looking gratefully at his mentor.

“It was not hard, you are a good student, Mirio.” Nighteye answered, nodding.

“Won’t his Quirk get in conflict with yours? I thought nobody could have more than one Quirk.” Heller asked.

“There are two ways to get more Quirks inside a single person. Two Quirks can do that actually, one of which is my _**One for All**_. My Quirk works in perfect harmony with every other ability,” Toshinori answered.

“And the other Quirk that can do that?”

“I...Prefer to not talk about _him_, if possible.”

“Whatever. What now?” the other asked.

“Now I am in a quandary...I have in front of me two perfect candidates for my Quirk, and I have no idea what to do.” All Might answered with a depressed sigh.

“Can’t you give it to the two of them?” Himiko asked.

“No, every holder of _**One for All**_ can pass it on to a person only.” the Pro Hero answered.

“Will you lose it after passing it on?” Heller asked.

“Yes, once passed, I will remain with few ‘_Dying Embers’_ that I will be able to use for a limited amount of time...And once depleted, I will lose it forever.”

“Then give it to Mirio.” Izuku said.

“Uh? Me?”

“I have the Blacklight Virus, so when the time comes I won’t be able to pass the_**One for All**_ Quirkto somebody else. My entire body is made-out of that Virus by now, if who receives it is not compatible, then the nightmare that happened two hundred years ago will repeat.” the boy explained with a gentle smile.

“They can both be the next ‘_Icons of Justice and Hope’_, there is no need for that Quirk to inherit the Title.” Inko added.

“_Huhuhu_! _**One for All**_ is _Special_, is not your Usual Quirk...it is...’_**Magical’**_, in a sense. One of the Seven Great Mysteries of this world.” All Might explained with an amused chuckle.

“So?”

“So he thinks that you will pass only that Quirk when the time happens, not the Blacklight.” James said.

“Yes and no, a small _imprint_ of that Virus will remain within _**One for All**_, probably a single side of its powers, but nothing more. This Quirk is literally a conglomeration of the Will and Beliefs of each and every holder, and it grows stronger after each passing.” Toshinori explained with a fond smile.

“Then give it to Izuku.” Mirio said.

“Eh?!” the boy yelled.

“Please explain.” Nighteye asked.

“What percentage of it do you believe I can handle?” Mirio asked.

“At your current level?” Toshinori asked back.

“Uh-hu.”

“...60%...65% at best, then you will go _**Rebound**_ and start straining your body to the point of self-damage.”

“It’s a good estimate.” Nighteye confirmed.

“A-And me?” Izuku asked.

“Hey, kiddo.” James cut-in.

“Ye-” _**THUNK!**_

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Inko screamed in utter horror as a kitchen knife went plunged deeply in the kid’s forehead by Heller.

“YOU MONSTER!” Toshinori bellowed, fully transformed into his _All Might_ persona uncaring of the damages he was doing to himself, next to him both Mirio and Nighteye too were ready for battle.

“Calm your tits, people...” James said nonplussed, smiling amused as a confused Izuku went cross-eyed and failed to grab the handle of the knife sticking from his forehead.

“_Splurgbles_-_gah_!” the kid gargled-out while drooling.

“Ah, I fucked-up the part that controls his speaking. Sorry.” looking unperturbed, James pulled out the knife and grabbed a raw steak from the kitchen freezer to slap it on top of the wound.

It was then that the others watched the piece of meat get _eaten_ by Izuku’s forehead so to close the wound in an instant immediately after, making his eyes recover their normal color from their momentary dulled state.

“..._Ouch._” the boy then muttered with a wince.

“I guess he can go 80%?” Heller asked, sitting back at the table as if nothing was out of ordinary.

“...Yeah...” Toshinori answered with an unnerved look in his eyes.

“Izuku! Talk to me! How are you? Are you okay? I can take you to the hospital!” Inko in the meantime was in full panic as she shook his boy wildly.

“I-I-I-I-I am o-o-o-okay, Mum!” Izuku tried saying while roughly man-handled by the hysterical woman.

“That was beautiful...”

“YOU ARE NOT HELPING, HIMIKO!” the woman screeched.

“I guess we can say that he can go that high.” Toshinori said, dryly, and deflating once released his transformation.

“Unfortunately he has not huge reserves of _Bio-mass_ like me, so your _**Rebound**_ stuff can still happen and have his own muscles get torn to pieces or the bones broken under the stress of the Quirk’s power, good news is that he will heal pretty damn fast from that.” Heller said with a shrug.

“Next time you want to show-off your powers, hit yourself!” Inko howled in fury.

“Okay, okay.” the other answered with an annoyed frown.

“My suggestion remains. At the moment he is ahead of me when it comes to accessing the full power of the Quirk, but I plan to reach that level myself.” Mirio said.

"May as well have a showdown to decide who will get it someday in the future once both are ready to fully use it." Heller muttered, uncaring.

"Wouldn't that defeat the idea behind the Quirk?" Himiko asked.

"Whatever?" James answered.

“W-W-We can train together if you want! I-I too want to become a great Hero.” openly ignoring the two, Izuku tried saying while offering his hand to the older boy.

“Hahaha! I would love that, Midoriya-kun!” Mirio answered, laughing amused and shaking hands with the boy.

“Can I call you _Senpai_ then?” Izuku asked with an adorable expression and hopeful tone.

_Ba-Dump!_

“Y-Yes...If you want.” Mirio answered with a more shy expression.

“Mirio-senpai!” Izuku said with a blinding, happy smile.

_ **BA-DUMP!** _

“They usually stop being adorable once reached the _Teen Stage_.” Nighteye said with a perturbed tone, and watching unamused as his pupil went overcome by the kid’s _aura_.

“The boy's a special case.” James answered, grimacing.

“Well, I guess we can go then, I will tell you who I choose tomorrow after the entrance test.” Toshinori said, getting up from the table and motioning the others to follow him.

“Sorry for the intrusion, madame.” Nighteye added while bowing a little towards Inko.

“I will see you at school then, Midoriya-kun!” Mirio said with a thumbs-up.

“Of course, Senpai!” Izuku answered.

“I will accompany you to the door.” James added.

**Outside the house - **

“...”

“Yes?” understanding that the man wanted something, Toshinori got closer to James so that the two could talk.

“You were not honest before. You REALLY are dying, what is it?” the man asked, making the Pro Hero flinch a little in discomfort.

“The man that reduced me like this left..._**Something**_ in the wound, it’s like a cancerous growth: it’s sapping my strength and life and makes it impossible to transplant new organs, they all _rot_ as soon as the put them in place. Even _Healing Quirks_ can just slow it down.” All Might admitted with a disgusted frown.

“I see. Where is it?” James asked with a frustrated sigh.

“Here, behind what remains of my liver and close to the spine, unfortunately the area is also inoperable to surgically remove it.” the other answered, lifting his shirt to show a literal_ crater_ covering the side of his body.

“...Sorry.” James uttered before plunging his entire right hand inside Toshinori’s body.

“ALL MIGHT/TOSHINORI!” both Nighteye and Mirio yelled in horror at the same time as they watched the flesh of the Pro Hero turn black around Heller’s fist with the veins there also turning dark-purple and bulging-out grotesquely.

“There it is, the little shit!” Heller said with a predatory smile as he roughly pulled his hand out in a splash of blackish blood.

“Here, it should hold-up until you take him to the hospital.” the man then said using the _webbing_ produced by his mutation to hastily patch-up the hole he left on Toshinori’s side.

“A-Are you okay, Sir?” Mirio asked, horrified.

“No...I have a hole in my side...What do you think!?” All Might answered with labored breath.

“A little souvenir. Have somebody study it, just in case other cases pop-out.” James said as he showed them the rotten mass of flesh he was holding in his hand, it smelled foul and looked to be slightly _pulsating_ like a deformed heart.

Grabbing an abandoned newspaper from a near trashcan, the living embodiment of the Blacklight Virus wrapped the putrid mass of flesh with it and handed it to Nighteye, making the bespectacled Pro Hero accept it with narrowed eyes.

“How did you do it?” he asked.

“When you live longer than any damn human on this planet, you actually live long enough to learn a few tricks whatever you want to or not, and I have Consumed enough scientists with several degrees in bio-engineering and Biology to know how to _manipulate_ genes to attract every single cell of that tumor-like shit to myself and then trap it inside a bit of flesh of our friend here. Have him run some tests, I _**should**_ have got every scrap of it, but ask for a second opinion, just in case I forgot something and the thing tries grows back.” James answered.

“Why?” All Might asked, still with a weak voice.

“You spent your whole life trying to be the best hero for this entire God-forsaken planet, if even just half of what they say is true, then you are so good you pretty much shit rainbows. I did not want you to kick the bucket just because a sore loser tried to poison you, too many people look up to you, Mirio and Izuku especially; your fans deserve to see their Hero die of old age surrounded by his loved ones, not eaten alive by some tumor leaving behind just a malformed corpse. You still have a job to do, soldier, so man-up, get your organs healed and keep the fight up, you pansy!” said that, James gave a stiff military salute and rapidly walked back inside the house without another word.

“...Eh! He likes me as well, damn Tsundere.” Toshinori commented with a weak chuckle.

“Be as it may, we have wasted too much time, come, I’ll take you to the hospital to get patched-up.” Nighteye said, helping the man walk towards their car parked not too far away.

“So you will get better?” Mirio asked hopeful while he too helped All Might walk.

“If he really removed that growth from my body, chances are that I can at least finally repair the damages, as for getting back in shape? I don’t actually hold too much hope about that.” Toshinori answered.

“Never say never, you yourself taught me that hope gets miracles to happen, so do not be a hypocrite now.” Nighteye answered.

“Ops! My bad! Hehehe! I guess I slipped a little.” All Might answered, laughing softly and wincing in pain.

“Stop laughing, he merely stitched you up with some adhesive slime, so do not tempt fate.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Good, let’s go now. I’ll drive.”

“_Midoriya Izuku...You are fated to become something incredible once mastered your Quirk. It will be a nice challenge to keep-up with you, I can’t wait!_” Mirio thought in excitement as he stole a last look towards the modest house before leaving with the two Pro Heroes.

If only he knew how tightly his and Izuku’s destiny were actually intertwined, even he would feel overwhelmed, but for now, he was still unaware of the important turn his fate had just took, all because he wanted to join his Mentor and his Idol in a strange home visit.

**End of chapter 2.**

**I know what you are thinking...**

“**_You made Izuku pretty much immortal, won’t this ruin the fic’s plot?_” **

**And you may be right, but let’s be honest: Have you _EVER_ seen the ‘_Pure Heart’_ Shonen Protagonist actually dying for ** _real_ **? Except in Dragonball where _Death_ is pretty much part of the Plot? I haven’t, at least.  
And I believe that in the end the Blacklight Virus is a more believable way of surviving “_Near-death”_ fights than mere Plot Armor or “_Elev__e__n Hour Power-up through flashback_”.  
Alex Mercer survived a Nuke exploding at a feet from him!   
Giving the middle finger to Death is a canon power of the Virus!  
…  
Sorry about this.**


	3. Devastator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day has finally come! The entrance test will be Izuku's first step into the world of Heroes, should he manage to keep himself out of harm's way, that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fairly sure this is a cliché by now, but since I was late to the party, this was to be expected, so, fingers crossed in hope this won’t suck too much!  
PS: I don’t like Bakugo nor Mineta, I hope this won’t be a problem. (no Bashing).  
(I want to try explore the full scope of what something like the Blacklight can do, it can’t possibly just be all about creating a couple weapons and eat people...)  
Pairing: Deku/ Ochako Uraraka/ Himiko Toga.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia or anything else I will use nor I make a profit out of this, I am writing just for the pleasure of doing it.

**U.A High School – Entrance - **

There was A LOT of people gathering in front of the school and clamoring to enter, all young boys and girls looking hyper and jittery and generally overcome by anxiety, unable to wait for their occasion to shine and join the prestigious school to become Heroes.

“_Whoooooaaaaah_! Soo many people!” Himiko said in wonder as she looked everywhere in great excitement.

“Every year this place is flooded in applicants, you would be able to write a thesis on Quirks’ variety just by watching all the brats here, every single Quirk User in the damn city tries to get in, some people here are at their third try at the very least. I didn’t even know it was an option.” Heller answered while scanning the place.

“You used to come here to spy on them?” Izuku asked.

“In the short pauses I had whenever I was not training you, I tried coming here to come-up with some convincing name for your “_Quirk”_, just in case you were adamant in joining this damn school. I just pretended to be a freelance journalist and asked around for minor details.” the man said.

“I heard that the first test is written, and that while not too hard, it’s very stressful.” Himiko added.

“You sure you can join? Or that you want to?” Izuku asked.

“Uh-hu! I may be a bit older than you, but ever since the _**Sperm Donor**_ and the _**Womb**_ that gave me life abandoned every hope about me as soon as I manifested my Quirk, joining the AU Highschool so that _everybody_ would knew about my powers and accept me was a very unrealistic dream for me...It’s a miracle if I got to go to a normal school for a while before meeting you two.” she answered, her more sadistic side showing-up for a moment in the form of a crazed, madness-filled smile almost splitting her face in two even if she was talking with an utterly normal and calm tone.

“Sorry for bringing that up.” Izuku said while grabbing her hand to give it a small squeeze, and both he and Heller skillfully ignored the way she always labeled her parents as.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! At least we can be classmates!” Himiko answered with a normal happy smile once recovered, especially happy at the fact he grabbed her hand by his own volition.

“Just remember that since I got them to sign the adoption papers in my name you don’t have to worry about them anymore.” Heller answered, simply.

**Flashback – Adoption Papers Signing - **

“Sign those fucking papers! SIGN THEM!” Heller screamed while holding Himiko’s father at _**claw point**_ while the man’s wife was sprawled on the floor and holding her bleeding nose with a hand.

“I AM SIGNING! I AM SIGNING!” the man whimpered in tears as he kept signing papers at high speed while trying to ignore his broken arm and the various bruises that had been inflicted on him as soon as he opened the door to see who was looking for him.

“And put your initials here and there! I SAID _**HERE**_ AND _**THERE**_, MOTHERFUCKER!”

“YESSIR!” both adults yelled in answer while pissing themselves in absolute fear.

“Is this enough?” dropping the bestial snarl on his face, Heller spoke with a normal tone of voice and turned to the lawyer calmly sitting at the table while drinking tea so to show him the newly-signed documents.

“_Hmmm!_...Everything seems to be in order. Congratulations, Mister Heller, you have a daughter now.” the old man said, nonplussed, once checked every paper.

“Good. Grab your stuff, Himiko, we are leaving this cesspool!” James said.

“Okay!” the girl replied with a cheerful smile.

The lawyer himself was happy as well, that was the calmest and most sedated adoption he had helped along in years! He had even started to lose hope about his job before meeting this case!

**End of the flashback - **

“Yeah, stench of piss aside, they looked like nice people. Even if very short-sighted.” James muttered, shrugging.

“This way! Everybody here for the Entrance Test, please follow me!” a man with long blond hair styled in a gravity-defying upward curve declared while using his own Quirk to make sure _everybody_ in there could hear him.

“Time to go, I guess.” Izuku said with a nervous sigh.

“Don’t be afraid! We’ll do great!” Himiko answered.

“You will! You will! Just remember, boy: _**Do not hold back!**_ Both All Might and Nighteye were clear in their message, while taking your test, give your all.” James said.

“Y-You sure?” the boy asked.

“Release every restrain, if they want you to break stuff, you will _destroy_ it. Got it, soldier?” he answered.

“Y-Yes!”

“Good! Now go and make Inko proud.”

“Okay!”

“...And what about me?” Himiko asked.

“Just behave and do not stab random people. Or steal blood. Or stab people. Or drink blood. Or stab people. Or molest Izuku…Or stab people.” Heller answered, completely serious.

“Oh, screw you.” the girl replied, huffing, and watching him walk away while flashing her a middle finger she was more than eager to reciprocate.

“Better get going.” Izuku said as he saw how most of the people had already left.

“Yes, right, let’s go!” Himiko answered, smile ever present, until she saw a petite, cute brunette girl walk into Izuku while deep in thought and causing both to fall to the ground with her looming over him while straddling his hips...And Himiko’s smile turned into a snarl in a tenth of a second.

“OH MY GOD! I am so sorry! You okay!? I was fretting about this entrance test and was not looking where to go! T-The map I was looking at too did not help and-”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Nobody got hurt.” Izuku answered while gratefully accepting her help to stand up, and unknown to him, Himiko had already unclasped the safeties around the knives sheaths she was wearing on her belt and was now looking at the back of the two kids’ heads rather intensely, especially the girl’s.

“And you are?” Himiko asked with a voice several octaves lower than normal.

“_Oh, no! A relapse? Now? Why?_” still unaware of the more intricate depths of the female mind, Izuku mentally wondered as to what caused his friend to fall back into her more maniac side.

“Ochako Uraraka, nice to meet you!” meanwhile the girl, probably unaware of how _‘stabby happy’_ Himiko could get when motivated, answered as if nothing was out of ordinary.

“I am Himiko Toga, Ochako-chan!” the other answered, with her overly-large and teeth-filled smile unnerving Ochako fiercely.

“And I am Izuku Modoriya, nice to meet you.” the boy added with a small bow.

“He is my friend! My BEST Friend! And we are close, very very very very very very very very close!” Himiko said, _casually_ putting herself between Izuku and Ochako.

“O-Okay.” the other girl answered, now VERY unnerved, especially since Himiko had still to blink _ONCE_ since she met her.

“Sorry, she doesn’t deal well with anxiety.” Izuku muttered, apologetic.

“Oh? Oooh! Don’t worry, I am feeling anxious myself, so I understand.” Ochako replied with a small smile.

“Then it’s time to go, right! Let’s hurry!” Himiko said while latching to Izuku’s arm with both of hers to literally drag him away.

“See you later, Ochako-chan!” the girl called-out without looking back at her.

“See you later...Even if you made it sound like a threat...” Ochako muttered very low in answer and with a forced smile.

“...Why I have the impression that she said ‘_My_ _Friend’_ as if it rhymed with ‘_My Husband/Lover/Property_’ when talking about Midoriya-san?” she then wondered aloud, unknowingly going pretty close at guessing how Himiko’s head worked.

She actually missed the “_Future Father of our Kids”_ part…

**Meanwhile – Near the entrance - **

“THERE YOU ARE!” a new voice yelled happily as soon as Izuku entered his field of vision.

“Mirio-Senpai!” Izuku answered with a blinding smile, thing that caused a small part of the older young man’s heart to constrict _painfully._

“It’s finally the day! How do you feel?” Mirio asked while motioning two other students to come closer.

“Like my heart is about to explode.” Izuku admitted.

“Huhuhu! Yeah, I was like that too! But believe me, as soon as the thing start, you will forget about your anxiety and just go through it like a bullet!” the girl with very long hair next to Mirio answered with a cheerful and energetic tone.

“I really hope so.”

“Ah! Where are my manners!? I am Nejire! Nice to meet you! Mirio-kun told us a lot about you, Izu-kun!” the girl then said before grabbing both Izuku’s hands to wildly shake them.

“Nice to meet you too, Nejire-senpai!” the boy replied.

“Naah! We are friends now! Just call me Nejire-chan!” Nejire corrected him, and she immediately got a cold shiver run up her spine at the hateful glare Himiko sent her from behind Izuku.

“_Kuh..._” the blond girl scoffed as she moved just a bit closer to the boy.

“_Oooh! She is jealous! Aaaw, that’s so cute!_” Nejire thought in amusement, and utterly ignoring the mysterious air of murderous intent emanating from the girl.

“...I am Tamaki.” the other boy with Mirio finally added his two cents once prodded enough by his friends, although his answer came in a low monotone while his face was tightly pressed against a near wall.

“Please forgive him, he is pretty uncomfortable with new people,” Mirio explained with a weak chuckle.

“It’s okay,”

“By the way, if you feel too stressed just remember: write the kanji for ‘_Person’_ on your hand then swallow it! It will help immensely, do you want me to write it for you?” Nejire said with a helpful expression.

“No, thank you. If he will swallow anything, that will only be something _**I**_ gave him! I am the only thing he will ever swallow! Same going for me and everything that comes from him!” Himiko hissed in answer.

“What do you mean?” Izuku asked, innocently, while the double entendre flew way up above his head but not the trio’s that instead looked at the girl with bulged-out eyes.

“Don’t worry, everything will get clear in due time.” She answered with an innocent smile.

“_That was as subtle as a __nuclear warhead__...”_ the trio of upperclassmen thought at the same time in wonder.

“It’s getting late so you better get going, and...Between us...” Mirio, forcing himself to not look too much in Himiko’s general direction, whispered with a conspiratorial tone.

“Yes?” Izuku asked.

“The second part of the admission test will be a simulated battle against villain robots, so don’t be afraid to go all out. There won’t be victims so use your “_Quirk”_ at full power with no restraint. I can’t tell you more because it would be unfair, but feel free to go wild, nobody will mind, quite the opposite in fact.”

“Ah! Thank you, Senpai!” the young boy answered with a grateful tone.

“Now go and make me proud, okay?”

“Okay!”

“And?” he asked with a knowing smile.

“...Do I have to?” Izuku asked with a small blush.

“Uh-hu.”

“P-P-Power…” he said with a low voice, barely a whisper.

“Louder. POOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!”

“P-POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!” the young man yelled as he followed Mirio’s lead, making the other people present look at the two of them with shocked eyes.

“Hahahaha! That’s the spirit! Now go and give it your all!” Mirio said with a thundering laugh as he watched the poor boy hurry inside with an adorable ashamed expression plastered on his face, soon followed by Himiko.

“...”

“...”

“Sooo...” Nejire said with a knowing smirk once seen the two kids enter the building hosting the first test.

“So?” the blond man said, unsure.

“Mirio-senpai, eh?” the girl asked, chuckling.

“W-What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just find it veeeery cute.” she said with a small smile.

“Seen how much you care about him, wanna go watch when he fights against the robots?” Tamaki asked with a low, monotone voice.

“Should we? Or better, can we?” Mirio asked back, unsure.

“I think we can try asking to _Eraser Head_-sensei.” Nejire answered.

“At least we’ll be there to cheer him up should he fail and get kicked-out of school. You know how merciless the **‘0**_** points**_ _**Robots**_’ can be when unleashed.” the shyest member of the ‘_**Big 3**_’ explained.

“I wouldn’t be that negative yet! It looked like we had a good batch this year! Especially Mirio-kun’s little protege!” Nejire answered.

“He is not my protege! Just...A new friend.” Mirio replied with an embarrassed smile.

“A new friend with a creepy Quirk, you said.” Tamaki said.

“His Quirk is not creepy! It’s just that his body is a bit _unstable_ and can change its shape whenever he wants.”

“Like mine?”

“Sort of.” Mirio answered, unsure about how to describe the Blacklight Virus without blowing Izuku and Heller’s secret.

“OOOH! It can change that much? Let’s go watch then! I want to ask him few things! Let’s Go! Let’s Go! Let’s GO!” Nejire ordered while moving towards the testing ground in a burst of child-like curiosity.

“Now you did it...” Tamaki muttered with a sigh as the two boys followed the girl at a more sedated pace.

“Sorry!” Mirio answered with an apologetic smile.

**Later that day - Battle ground – _UA Entrace Exam Practical Test_** -

“The written Test was a borefest.” Himiko muttered with a huff.

“I envy you, you were so fast in answering...” Izuku admitted with a sigh.

“Most of it was school stuff with some ‘_Hero knowledge’_ sprinkled in to spice things up, I know you did well there, have faith in yourself!” she answered with a smirk and a thumbs-up.

“_Ah-Ehm!”_

“Yes?” she asked, annoyed.

“I am sorry, but I believe you should be listening to the instructions they are giving us instead of talking.” a tall boy with squared glasses tried saying.

_Sigh!_ “Miscreant…Izu-kun?”

“Oh, right! During the practical exam the candidates will conduct mock battles in a replica of a generic urban setting.

Examinees are given ten minutes to use their Quirks to immobilize robotic villains in order to score points depending on the robot's point value.

The more points one examinee earns, the higher their chance is to get accepted into U.A. High.

Candidates are not allowed to fight other candidates.

Doing so results in disqualification.

Students hailing from the same middle school are placed in different testing areas to avoid potential cooperation.” Izuku answered to the guy with a super-short version of what _Present Mic_ had just said, making him splutter in surprise.

“So?” Himiko asked, smirking.

“My apologies, he was listening after all.” the other boy admitted.

“Show off...” a very small guy with balls of hair on top of his head muttered.

“You jelly, kid?” Himiko said as she skipped ahead towards the starting line like an excited kid.

“I am not jelly, I am hard as rocks!” the boy said with a lecherous smirk as he tailed behind her while they joined the rest of the group at the same entrance.

“...”

“...Really? Listen, _**BOY**_. I don’t know nor care about what fantasy world you live in, but things work differently from whatever Hentai you binge-watch daily! There is not a single girl on this entire planet that will drop on her knees for you just because you vomited out some sexual innuendo. Especially me.” the girl answered while nailing the short boy with a scathing glare holding no humanity inside.

“I-” he tried saying.

“I already have a boy I like, so drop it, otherwise _**I**_ will drop _**you**_, but inside a wood-chipper.” she cut him off, almost making him bit-off his tongue.

“That’s damn brutal...” a young man with spiky red hair admitted, impressed.

“Himiko!” in the meantime Izuku had reached the girl, turning her attitude to its utter opposite.

“I thought you wanted to go to different areas,” she admitted, a pleased smile on her face as he neared her.

“The rule is about who went to the same middle school...A-A-And we didn’t, b-but if you don’t want to, I mean, I don’t want to put your results in danger or risk us being disqualified or-”

“Izu-kun, you are mumbling.” Himiko interrupted him while showing a wide smile.

“Oh! Sorry...” the boy answered, smiling sheepish.

“It’s okay, I like it, it’s cute.”

“C-C-Cute?! I am not cute, am I?” the poor boy muttered, face completely red, as he walked a bit forward while looking down shyly.

“Awwwww!” Himiko squealed happily as she watched the blushing mess that was her sweet-heart walk ahead and take position.

“You got it bad, girl!” another examinee, a girl with pink skin and pink hair, said with an amused smirk.

“Maybe, _Bubblegum_,” Himiko answered while still ogling Izuku’s backside.

“Hoy! My name is Mina Ashido, don’t spoil it.” the girl answered with a childish pout.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“A penny for your thoughts?” Mina asked, curious, as she saw the girl looking deep in thought.

_Sigh!_ “It’s driving me mad...Is Izu-kun a screamer? Will he mind if I wear a choker and leash when we will finally do it? Oooh! I wonder if he will let-out a cute squeal while I am riding him dry! I hope he will!” Himiko admitted while covering her cheeks with both hands, all this while her eyes gained the sinister heart-shaped glint usually accosted to more _unstable_ lovers as her eyes pretty much _molested_ the oblivious green-haired boy in front of her.

“...”

“...Okay.” Mina squeaked unsure as she and every other student around moved away so to leave some space between them and the strange girl.

“She will eat him alive, _ribbit_.” a girl with frog-like appearances and Quirk muttered in dread and looking at Izuku with a sorrowful expression.

“Why did you ask, Mina-san?” another girl, this one a tall beauty with raven hair, muttered with a groan.

“I was just curious!” Mina answered, whining.

“_**AAAAAND, GOOOOOO!**_” Any other comment stopped when Present Mic suddenly gave the start to the test, scaring three fourth of the present kids and turning the otherwise ordinate entrance into a chaotic stampede not different from a case of _Black Friday Mass Hysteria_.

“_**Sorry, kids! But real battles have no count-downs, you must be always ready!**_” Present Mic said with an amused tone.

**Test Area -**

The place was a perfect replica of a city landscape, to the point that there were cars parked and few of them even had tickets for illegal parking, the only thing was that the only inhabitants were few robots with a bright **1** painted on them.

“How do we do this?” Izuku asked.

“It’s point based, right? I saw we split and rack-in as many as we can! Easy!” Himiko answered.

“You up for it?” the boy asked, worried.

“Have no fear! They said that the robots are made in a way that even for people with Quirk not purely fighting-oriented can fight them, I can do this!” she answered.

“Okay, but just call me if you need help, okay?”

“Hihihi! Thank you!”

“Good...I...I’ll go right then, okay?” Izuku asked.

“And I’ll go left, give your best, okay?” Himiko asked.

“I will, promise!” the boy answered, before jumping a _One-Pointer_ and using it as an improvised club to bash a second one to pieces.

“Huhuhu! Sooo eager, well, it’s time to get to work myself!” Himiko muttered amused, before zipping down the top of the jumpsuit she was wearing to show a bandoleer of throwing knives tied diagonally on her chest and the blades on both inner sides of the jumpsuit jacket: a custom-made butcher knife with wide blade at each side accompanied by a pair of twin kukri knives next to them, closing the armory-worth ensemble of blades on her person, there were two overly-long machetes sheathed at her hips.

“_Saintess of blades? Cutting Edge?..._No, they sound cringy. I need a cool _**Hero Name**_.” she muttered while assaulting a duo of **1 point** Robot Villains that were nearing her with unfriendly intentions.

**Control Room – Above the fake city - **

The room was full of monitors checking every single Hero applicant so to mark the exact number of Robot Villains they downed and how many ‘_Heroic Points’_ they earned through goodwill.

And as usual, the Principal of U.A High School, Nezu, was surveying the entire operation himself and personally directing the way the Robot Villains moved so to give everybody equal chances to shine.

“Would you look at that, your _Pet Project_ is doing nicely. And his powers sure are versatile, how was his Quirk called, again?” the small rat-man said while sipping his tea.

“_Metamorphic_, that’s how he called it. And the boy is not exactly a _Pet Project _of mine.” Toshinori admitted, unsure.

“Is he not your Heir then?” he asked.

“My-My what? No! I mean...How do you know?!” _All Might_ asked with a defeated tone.

“About your _Quirk Problem_? I wish to remind you that your dear Teacher was my friend as well, I know because _**she**_ told me about your Quirk. So he is the one?” Nezu asked.

“...I don’t know...Both him and Mirio are perfect candidates, I still haven’t decided, I’ll wait after this Test to take a decision.” the man admitted.

“So you have not gone all the way yet?” Nezu asked.

“You make it sound like I am about to sleep with them!” Toshinori yelled with a red face.

“YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” at that Nezu let-out a chilling deranged laugh.

“Principal Nezu…” the Top Pro Hero muttered with a childish whine.

“Aaah, don’t spoil my fun. In all seriousness, the boy is good. That girl you told me about instead...The one with the _Transformation Quirk_.”

“Toga-san? Yes?”

“You said her Quirk gives her mental instability, is it?”

“More like small bouts of violence linked to literal attraction to blood, apparently she was exposed to its powers way too early and that gave her faint personality issues; the fact that she can even briefly copy Quirks doesn’t help. Her doctor thinks that part of her brain fails to recognize who the real ‘_Himiko __Toga__’_ is whenever she transforms, and that makes her go through short episodes of identity crisis when the transformation expires. So now a part of her randomly goes _short-circuit_ and she briefly loses control when under intense emotions...”

“Is not very clear, All Might.” Nezu said, humming.

“If I was good at this I would have been a psychologist, not a Super Hero.” Toshinori answered.

“True. And you say that boy helps her?”

“More like: Midoriya-san is the only one that can work with her both when she is normal and when she is having a _moment_ of hers, he can become her moral compass and voice of reason in those moments, so to speak.”

“So you are suggesting to use the _**Buddy System **_with her?” Nezu asked with narrowed eyes.

“Train them both as Partners from the start, yes.”

“And both will be up for it?”

“Himiko has an unhealthy crush on him, she’ll love the idea. And he is a good boy at heart, he will go along as well, even just because it will help her.”

“...You ship those two.” the rat said with a deadpan voice.

“Outrageously yes, Principal. I do.” Toshinori admitted with a straight face.

_Sigh!_ “Let’s go with the _**Buddy System**_, even just to keep her from going Villain. God knows one with that power would be a pain to deal with, otherwise. But she will have to keep meeting counselors and psychologists and use other weapons besides knives, no matter how incredibly good she is with them, even just to not have her get tempted to stab random people for their blood when having a moment of violence.”

“Her adoptive father, and _teacher_, suggested to give her blunt knife-shaped tasers...And maybe a baseball bat shaped one for though enemies, at least she will be able to defend herself with weapons made to knock-down people non-lethally instead of cutting them to shreds.”

“I’ll send a note to the Support Team, should she pass. She can carry a couple small knives for cases of emergency, and to use her Quirk, but she better not overdo and behave.”

“I trust her, she won’t.” Toshinori answered, smiling in satisfaction.

“A thing though...” Nezu asked, unsure.

“Yes?”

“Does she have to yell ‘_Yoink!_’ every time she _kills_ a Robot?” the rat-man asked with a grimace.

“_Yoink! Yoink! Yoink! Yoink! Yoink!”_ from the video feed they heard Himiko yelling that word whenever she downed a machine, all while showing a wide fanged smile and movements worthy of an Olympic gold-medal gymnast.

“We all have our _Quirks_, Principal.” Toshinori answered, smirking.

“That was a bad joke...Really bad.”

“If I was good at this I would have been a comedian, not a Super Hero.”

“That can’t be your answer to every criticism.”

“If I was good-”

“Finish that sentence and I will smash your knees.”

“Yes, Principal Nezu.” All Might answered with an annoyed childish pout.

“Principal Nezu!” one of the guys manning the system said in alarm.

“What?”

“One of the _**3 Pointers**_ is not answering our commands, it’s going rogue!”

“Define _Rogue._”

“Out for blood, sir. It seems to think that beheading humans is a form of non-lethal takedown.” the guy said with a shiver.

“Can you remotely stop it?” Nezu asked.

“Already tried, Principal, I get no answer, we cannot control it, we barely get updates of its status and posiiton.”

“Last known position?”

“Sector 33-E-S. The east side.”

“Which students are there? We’ll tell them to avoid it.” All Might answered.

“Let’s see. _Asui, __Tenya, Momoshiki, Koji, Shigeta _and _Midoriya.”_

“Oh! He is in mortal peril...What were the chances...” All Might muttered, somehow feeling like he should not be too surprised of Izuku being too close to a very lethal situation, all for the Pro Hero’s confusion.

**With Izuku – At the same time -**

“AAAAAAH!” Izuku yelled as he kept punching the chest of a two-points robot until it caved-in, and grasping the resulting hole with both hands, he pried the entire chest of the thing open to tear out every component he found until the thing fell on its back, destroyed.

“Another one down, this should bring me to a good position.” the boy said with a satisfied smile as a second Two-points tried jumping on him.

_ **Braaaaaagh!** _

An instant before the machine could even touch him, a shadow was over the robot followed by the furious rumbling of an engine, and the kick that shadow delivered cleanly beheaded the robot in a single hit, and Izuku knew that shadow.

“Hello!” Izuku said, waving at the same bespectacled boy he had met during the test presentation.

“You should be more careful, you know? This test has been made to put our bodies to test, they are not playing nice.” the young man answered.

“Oh, I know! Don’t worry, but thank you for the help.”

“This may be an entrance test, but I would have not respected myself as a Hero if I left you in trouble just to ‘_Win’.” _the other answered with a small smile.

“Nice to hear! I am Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you.” Izuku said, presenting his hand.

“Iida Tenya, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Iida answered, shaking the offered hand firmly.

“I saw you kick that robot with exhaust smoke coming out from your leg, and I swear I heard the sound of an engine coming from you...Was it your Quirk?” Izuku asked with a VERY excited tone.

“...Yes, you are very perceptive.” Iida admitted, impressed.

“What’s its name?” Izuku asked.

“_**Engine**_, passed down the Tenya bloodline for generations.” Iida answered with a proud voice.

“Cool! Does it also make you super fast? I bet the exhaust can also be used to attack and defend yourself!”

“Y-Yes...”

“Does clogging the exhaust on your legs cause problems?” the green-haired boy kept asking, talking faster and faster.

“I-I mean.”

“What does your Quirk run on? Body fluid? Blood? Does it have a very specific _fuel_ it needs?”

“_He can’t be guessing all that just by chance...Does he?”_ Iida thought in alarm as the boy, one he was sure he NEVER met before, was asking too many specific questions and going on tangents that were, unknown to young Midoriya himself, dissecting his Family’s Quirk.

“I-I-I would love to answer all your questions, but we are on a tight schedule and we should first focus on passing this Test. Q&A can happen later, okay?” sweating profusely at the possibility of somebody leaking too many details about his Quirk, Iida put an abruptly stop to the flood of questions.

“AH! Right! Sorry, I just get very excited about Hero and Quirk stuff.” Izuku admitted with a sheepish smile.

“It’s okay, I too am excited to be here and-”

“RUUUUN!” a girl with big round eyes and very long tongue yelled as she ran past them chased by a 3-Point robot clearly going on a rampage.

“What is happen-” _**BANG!**_

“Midoriya-san!” Iida yelled in abject horror as the robot lifted a near parked car and threw it at Izuku, catching him fully and shooting both boy and car _**through**_ a near building and into another area.

_ **BOOOM!** _

“OH GOD! OH GOD! OH GOD! What happened?!” the short boy with hair-balls from before shrieked in surprise as the flying car came flying through before slamming against the wall next to him, and what attracted his wide eyes was the human arm that could be seen sprouting from under it, lifeless.

“Somebody got hurt!” a very tall girl with raven hair yelled in shock in answer.

“_**Attention to all examinees, a robot is going rog**__**u**__**e. If you see a 3-point Robot with the Serial Number ‘**__Imperial 3303’__** keep y**__**our distance and switch area, the robot will not go for capture! I repeat, the robot WON’T go for Capture. Do not put your life at risk to try and stop it. A Staff Member will take care of it.**_” Present Mic alerted the entire area thanks to his Quirk.

“It’s the rogue robot! Leave the area!” a young man with red-and-white hair yelled as he used his Quirk to create a _wall_ between the crazy Robot and several other participants in the test.

“Oh God! H-H-He is dead!” the frog girl said once checked the pulse on the arm under the wrecked car, her voice broken by out-of-control croaks.

“Who was it?” Himiko asked.

“He said his name was Midoriya...I-I had no time to help him...” Iida said with a distraught voice.

“Ah! He’ll be fine then.” she answered, relieved.

“What do you mean?! His heart is not-” _Croak! “_-Beating!” the frog girl answered in horror.

“Oh, that’s normal. He doesn’t have a heart...Or organs.” Himiko, totally ignoring the rampaging robot behind her, answered with a wide smile while walking towards the _dead_ arm.

“No...Organs?”

“His entire body works as brain, lungs, stomach and stuff. It’s his Quirk.” She answered while using one of her knives to prick her finger and then cut open the palm of Izuku’s hand.

“What are you doing?” the tall girl asked.

“What’s your name?” Himiko asked, nonplussed, as she left few drops of her blood fall from her finger into the deep cut on Izuku’s hand.

“Momo...Momo Yaoyorozu...”

“Nice to meet you, Momo-chan! Step to the right, will you?” Himiko answered with a very wide, fanged smile as she saw Izuku’s hand clench thigh around the blood she dropped on it.

“To the right? L-Like this-” _**WHAM!**_

As soon as she did step aside to the right, the wrecked car flew past her and slammed at ludicrous high speed against the rogue robot body, taking away one of its arms making it topple over, and as soon as that happened, the other boys and girls present assaulted it like a pack of hungry wolves.

“THE TIMER! THE TEST!” the supposedly ‘_Dead’_ boy that was under the car was heard screaming in horror as he woke-up, showing his entire body having been reduced to a wreck of crushed flesh.

“You did not oversleep, I woke-up your Quirk.” Himiko answered, laughing at his ‘_adorable’_ worried expression.

“You...You have...” Iida said, unsure, while pointing at the torn arm at Izuku’s feet.

“Ah! Thank you!” the young boy said as he collected the severed left arm from the floor to reconnect it to his shoulder with a wet _Crack!_ Sound while ignoring the rest of his body rapidly repairing itself.

“All good?” he then asked while moving that arm around in a chorus of popping bones.

“Yes...No other pieces missing.” Iida answered, unnerved.

“_Ehm_..I-It’s my Quirk. My DNA is unstable, so every part of me can do...E-Everything else, meaning that I can heal fast and regenerate if I sacrifice some body mass to use it to substitute what was damaged.” Izuku explained.

Indeed they could see him heal, but turn absurdly thin at the same time in exchange, until he looked like somebody that hadn’t eaten for days, like sporting sunken cheeks and eyes or _skeletal_ limbs.

“So every cell of your body can cover every role, I see. It’s not too different from my Quirk, I too can transform part of my body, although to produce small objects instead of body parts.” Momo answered.

“It keeps him alive pretty nicely.” Himiko said.

“Y-Y-Yeah.” the boy admitted with a sheepish expression.

“Hungry?” Himiko asked.

“Starving.”

“It shows, you should stack more biomass in you.”

“Yeah...”

“Have no fear, I will deal with that...Oh...” a tall muscular man with face mask said as he joined the scene, only to see the rogue robot on its side missing half its torso, half melted and heavily damaged by a dozen other Quirks.

“Okay, we have a good batch this year. Good job for stopping it. Carry on with the test.” the Pro Hero called _Gunhead_ admitted impressed, giving a shrug to the situation and simply walking away once seen everything was under control.

“That was close.” the short boy muttered with a sigh.

“I would not relax if I were you! There is a horde incoming this way.” Tsuyu the frog girl said pointing towards a giant group of 1-pointers hurrying towards them while chasing the pink girl Mina.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” they heard her scream as she literally _skated_ on the ground with her naked feet so to gain just a bit more speed to escape.

“How did you attract so many?” Himiko asked yelling, impressed.

“A Moron with a hard-on for explosions! He wanted to play it tough and tried to attract as many of them as he could to destroy them all at the same time!” Mina answered, now finally reaching the other examinees.

“...That does sound like something _Kacchan_ would do...” Izuku muttered in answer.

“Where is that guy now?” Momo asked as Mina moved at her side and the robots circled the group.

“Dealing with his own horde.” she answered.

**Not too far away - **

“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!...ESPECIALLY YOU! YOU WILL DIE THE MOST!”

**Back to the group -**

**WROOOOOM!**

Working like clockwork, Iida zoomed back and forth through the thick group of robots that had assaulted them in droves, at the same time, Mina was seen showering them in acid to corrode their heads down to nothing so to deactivate them.

“_Yoink! Yoink! Yoink!_” not to be left behind, Himiko kept shoving knives into the “_eyes” _of the robots attacking her, smashing their main brain to pieces in a single move.

“_Ribbit!_ Make room!” Tsuyu yelled as she jumped a robot’s back and used her long tongue to grab its head and drive its blind rage-like charge against a trio of 1-Pointers at high speed.

“She looks angry.” Izuku, both arms turned into blades, said in surprise while bisecting the robots around him at the chest.

“She was forced to retreat by the rogue robot, she is trying to cleanse her honor.” Iida answered while momentarily stopping next to him.

“Oh!”

“You can also transform your arms?”

“Yes, in several forms too!”

“Nice to know, good luck, Midoriya-san!”

“To you too!” Izuku answered with a wide smile as he watched him sprint away again.

When a 1-point tried to sneak-up behind him, the green-haired boy morphed an arm into a thin wicked-looking hooked sting and once dodged the grabbing attempt, he shoot it forward like a long whip that beheaded it in a blur of motion.

And while Izuku was doing that, another student approached the pack of robots to attack them himself...

“YEAH! Taste my sticky balls!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“What?” the tiny boy said once noticed how everybody else was looking at him strangely, even the robots.

“Are you going to scream that whenever you use your Quirk?” Himiko asked, unnerved.

“Yes? It’s my battle-cry. Cool, eh?” Mineta answered, proud.

**Control Room - **

“To each their own, I guess.” Nezu commented with a scrunched nose.

“It still gives bad mental images.” Toshinori admitted.

“That he does. How are we at points?” the Principal asked to the men manning the system.

“Several of them have surpassed the 40 points threshold, Sir.”

“Good, and since they only have five minutes before time expires, I think it’s time to bring out the _Yakuri Switch_.” Nezu declared while lifting the lid of a very cliché red button labeled ‘_**Executor-kun**_’.

“You sure, sir?” All Might asked.

“Yes! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the mouse-bear-man answered with a maniacal laugh while pushing said button, causing a loud siren to briefly blare to life and the entire testing ground to shake heavily.

“Be strong, guys. The hard part starts now...” Toshinori muttered as he watched the giant robot emerge from underground and immediately starting to hunt down examinees.

**With Izuku – two minutes later - **

“We got separated from the group.” the boy said.

“Yes, but we need points, so the less people are around, the more robots there will be for us!” Himiko answered.

Both had been separated from the others thanks to a trio of 3-pointers that had singled-out the girl and chased her away, causing Izuku to jump-in to give her support against the machines by following her; and now the two were alone and running through the streets to find other robots to fight as the time before the end of the Test was running short.

“The ground keeps shaking, that giant thing is way too big!” the blond girl admitted while checking which knife she had was still usable, before growing unsatisfied at seeing every single one she had reduced to dull stumps of iron.

“Metal on metal is not good for knives.” Izuku tried saying.

“I knoooooow!” she answered with a moan while ditching her entire _collection._

“No other weapons?”

“Only one, this is my last knife.” Himiko answered while uncovering the last machete she had strapped to her back and unsheathing it.

“I can always create my claws and tear off a blade for you to use.”

“With your Quirk that would be too dangerous, but thank you all the same.” she answered with a touched expression.

“H-H-HELP!” it was then that they heard a distraught, tired scream not too far from them.

“That girl from before!” Himiko yelled as soon as the two turned the corner to see the same brunette they met before the exam being targeted by the giant 0-Pointer.

“She looks sick.” Himiko commented while both hurried to get her before the robot did.

“Her Quirk, maybe? She looks about to puke, and those debris pinning down her legs are not helping!” Izuku answered.

“What’s the plan?”

“I intercept the attack and you free her, I will use a _Devastator_.”

“What!? You don’t have enough Bio-mass for that! It will kill you!” Himiko screamed in answer.

“I know.” Izuku answered, utterly determined.

**With Ochako - **

“I...Can’t move...” the girl groaned as she watched the looming giant robot cast its enormous shadow on her and the surrounding area.

When the thing finally noticed her, she doubled her efforts to free herself, but between nausea, headache and weakness caused by her Quirk, she barely had enough strength move herself, let alone a big slab of concrete crushing one of her legs.

“God’s sake, you are useless.” she heard a voice utter as a pair of feminine hands grabbed her under the arms.

“Toga-san?” Ochako muttered.

“Yeah, yeah. I am going to help you, can you walk?” Himiko asked.

“Not really.”

“Damn it. Izu-kun!”

“I am here!”

“H-hey! Y-You okay?” Ochako said, worried, once seen the boy’s dried-up appearances.

“Just overused my Quirk. I’ll break you free.” Izuku answered with a gentle smile, and then hardening a fist into a shiny black version of itself to smash the slab of concrete trapping the girl with a single punch.

“Ah! T-Thank you!”

“INCOMING!” Himiko interrupted her with a strangled cry as the giant hand of the robot moved down to grab them.

“I’ll stop it.” Izuku answered.

“NO!” the girl replied, horrified.

_Remember, kiddo, a **Devastator**is a special move, but you need an absurd amount of Bio-mass to use it, and Bio-mass is what keeps people like me and you alive, if you use one without enough Bio-mass, you will pretty much throw your life away...Never, NEVER use a Devastator if you are already low on Bio-mass, you will die…_

“Sorry, James...” Izuku muttered as he over-charged his legs’ muscles to jump above the hand while transforming both arms into the _Claw Form_ so to shove both bladed hands deep into the robot’s _‘wrist’_ and then initiating the special attack once elbow-deep in metal.

“_**CRITICAL PAIN ROAD!**_” the boy yelled, and as soon as it started, everything for him then faded into darkness.

**Control Room - **

**_KRATOOOOOOM_!**

“...That was something.” Nezu admitted in mild surprise as he and the others saw vein-like patterns travel at blinding speed up the 0-Pointer’s arm and reach its head in a couple seconds, and once reached the robot’s _throat_ a giant spike of hardened tendons violently erupted upward from the top of the robot’s head, making said head explode in giant chunks of crushed piece of metal and making the towering robot topple down on its back unable to move.

“Yeah it was and...Oh, no...” Toshinori started answering before noticing the horrid state Izuku was now in and turning deadly pale.

“What?” Nezu asked.

“H-He needs Bio-mass! NOW!” All Might said with a horrified expression.

“Or?”

“Or he’ll die!” the Pro Hero answered while fishing-out his phone to call the only expert in _Blacklight _he knew.

**At the same time - **

“Oh, God...Oh, God, no...” Himiko muttered in horror as she cradled the head of Izuku on her lap while watching around in despair for _anything_ she could use to help him.

“What’s wrong?” Ochako asked, looking in horror at what her savior had reduced himself into to help her.

The boy looked completely mummified, with white hair and _glassed_ eyes and not an ounce of fat under his dried skin, Izuku now looked like a mummy out of a museum.

“He is about to die, okay!? Now shut-up! I need to think!” Himiko answered, near-hysterical.

“_Bio-mass...I need Bio-mass!...__Should I chop off one of my__ hand__s__?...__No, it would hardly be enough...What about__ the girl? It is her fault after all. __She could be a good start...__” _Himiko thought in fear, knowing that she had very little time to help Izuku, and that thought caused her mind to shift into more psychotic directions as she started looking at Ochako with eerily cold eyes.

“W-W-What?” the girl uttered in fear as she felt her blood turn to ice once met Himiko’s eyes.

“Have no fear, I am here!” it was then that the girls got the strangest guest ever join their discussion as a tall naked boy, of all things, landed between them holding in his arms what looked like to be three pigeons and a lone crow squirming wildly to break free.

“I saw everything, is this enough?” Mirio asked immediately and with a worried expression.

“Barely. Why naked?” Himiko asked while immediately grabbing those birds and snapping their necks in a single motion so to lie them on Izuku’s chest.

“I phase through my clothes too when I use my Quirk, only my costume is immune to that.” Mirio answered.

“WAAAAAAH! My eyes! I SAW HIS _THING!_ I will never get married now!” Ochako cried-out while looking away and covering her face.

“Is she okay?” Mirio asked.

“Just ignore her. Now step back, I’m going to make them bleed to wake-up Izu-kun’s Quirk. That thing is starving so don’t get too close or it will get tempted.” Himiko answered while cutting away a wing of a bird so that it could bleed freely on Izuku’s chest.

_Crunch! Crunch! Splort! Crunch!_

And the two could barely move away in time to see the boy’s body break-down into a shapeless blob of black slime that devoured those animals in less than a second with loud and wet crunching sounds, once done Consuming the small snack, the shapeless blob quietly transformed back into Izuku, still looking malnourished, but at least way more alive, so much that his eyes slowly opened.

“Hey...” he said with a weak whisper of voice.

“Hey, you made me worry, you know?” Himiko, eyes already full of tears, answered with a wide smile while hugging him as tight as she could.

“Sorry.” he answered.

“Toshinori-san called James, he is on his way with more things for you to Consume.” Mirio answered, he too showing a more relaxed smile now while gently patting his head.

“Won’t you be in trouble for coming here, senpai?” Izuku asked.

“The timer has just run-out, Izuku, the test is over so I can help you.” Mirio answered, chuckling.

“Oh...”

“No questions as to why I am naked? I am always asked that.”

“You helped me...As for now I won’t mind, just please, cover yourself.” the boy answered.

“This is what God gave me, a true man should never feel shy of himself and his gifts.” Mirio answered.

“Mirio-senpai, it’s awfully cold here...”

“What do you mean?”

“That there is very ‘_little’_ to be proud of there, Mirio-san. Now cover yourself.” Himiko answered, merciless.

“Eeeek!”

“Midoriya! Mirio!” just as Mirio let out a kind-of-undignified shriek, Toshinori too joined the scene with Heller in tow.

“You could not help but put your life at risk, eh?” James said with an annoyed huff.

“He was about to grab Uraraka-san.” Izuku admitted.

“The robot won’t have hurt her.” Mirio, using Toshinori’s coat to cover himself, answered with an amused chuckle.

“Not her personally, but she would have lost her chance...And I didn’t know that.”

“Thank you.” Ochako muttered, touched.

“We do not kill applicants here.” All Might said with a groan.

“It is not specified in the fliers.” Himiko countered.

“I was not aware that ‘_We won’t kill you’_ had to be specified.” the Pro Hero answered, rolling his eyes.

“Well, it should be.” the girl replied, huffing.

“Here, boy. I Consumed some stuff before coming here, it should put you back in shape and give you a small reserve.” In the meantime, Heller amassed a huge amount of Biomass in his right hand in a super-dense ball of flesh he then chopped off, all this making sure Ochako could not see or hear him.

“Thank you, James.” Izuku answered grateful, and crushing the fist-shaped pack of Biomass in his hand to Consume it, and immediately returning to his former, healthy appearances.

“Do not pull other stunts like this without a big-enough reserve, okay?” Heller ordered.

“Yessir.”

“Are you okay?” Ochako asked once finally able to see him back to normal.

“Yes, and you?”

“Uh-hu! Much better. But you shouldn’t have put yourself at risk like that for me, it was not worth it.” she said.

“To me it was.” the boy answered with a shy smile.

“Thank you...” she repeated, with a similar shy tone.

“_Aww_, they look cute together.” Mirio muttered, and missing the look of deep betrayal flashing on Toshinori’s face.

“Let’s just go, the place must be empty already.” James said while helping Izuku stand up.

“Yes, let’s go.” Himiko added.

“A thing, James...Where did you take all that Biomass?”

“A place nearby, don’t worry, nobody will make a fuss about it.” James answered.

**At the same time – Police Squad Headquarters – Call Center - **

“Police Squad, what’s your emergency?” The pretty young woman with fiery red hair and snake-like skin asked once picked-up the call.

“**...”**

“What do you mean ‘_Somebody kidnapped my 37 cats’_?” she asked, unnerved, as the old lady at the other side of the call kept raving madly.

**Mirio or Izuku...who should get the “_One for All_” ?**

**Which boy _in this specific story_ do you believe needs/deserves it the most?**

* * *

**I know this has nothing to do with the chapter, but I need help: I am going by this calculations about Izuku's initial "_STATS_" as a Blacklight User, are they good enough? Are they too much? Please tell me, because I will soon cover the ** _Quirk Appreciation Test_ ** and I don't want to "_Nerf_" or make Izuku overpowered...**  
  


_**Speed**_**: **In the Prototype Game everything above Harlem is cut off to minimize the map.

Manhattan should be around 13.4 miles/21.6 kilometers long.

I saw in a video somebody that made Mercer run the length of Manhattan in roughly 2 minutes and 40 seconds using every speed upgrades unlocked and using the shield power to bash through any objects in his way so to not slow down.

So: 8.93/2.40 x 25/25= **223.25/60 (223 Mph/359 Kph)**

If it takes Mercer 2 minutes and 40 seconds to run Manhattan island end to end, then his speed should be about 220-300mph, assuming Manhattan in the game is 13.4 miles long.

As for Izuku? I lowered it to 200 mph (**89.408 Meters per Second**) in virtue of his being new to Blacklight.

I used an online speed/time/distance calculator and got that for something traveling at 200 mph, it would take around (_less than_) 1 second to run 50 Meters (_distance for the Test_).

Considering Izuku would not _ **IMMEDIATELY** _ start running at 200 mph, I lowered his time to slightly less than 2 seconds due to his need to actually accelerate to get to his top speed, I am not a mathematician so I recognize I may be very wrong.

This should technically be the reason why he did not immediately catch Sludge Villain.

_**Strength**_: in the game Mercer can lift broken tanks, that look very similar to M1 Abrams Tanks, which weight normally between 60 to 70 tons, depending on the specific model, but if the broken version (_post-destruction_) only can be thrown, I guessed a lifting power for Mercer of around 55 tons.

So Izuku: a new holder of the Blacklight Virus that is still ‘_growing’_ could ideally be around 30 to 35 tons. I am open to correction if I am wrong.

So _**Ball throwing **_would be easy to dominate for him, coming second only to Ochako due to her sending it in orbit thanks to her Quirk able to nullify the pull of gravity on everything she touches.

Unfortunately I don’t know how _**lifting strength**_ translate to _**Grip strength**_, so I believe I will leave that detail nebulous on purpose.

_**Standing Long Jump**_: the equipment normally needed to measure the exercise is around 9 meters in length IRL…And Blacklight Users “_Jump Good”_. I don't believe it will be a stretch on my side to have him clear the sandbox like many others.

  
As for the other tests...Help?


	4. Quirk Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Mirio, Nighteye and Toshinori experiment with Blacklight and One for All thanks to James, Aizawa once again wonders why he decided to be a teacher in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Deku/ Ochako Uraraka/ Himiko Toga.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia or anything else I will use nor I make a profit out of this, I am writing just for the pleasure of doing it.

** Chapter 4: Quirk Testing.**

**UA High School – Infirmary Office - **

“Thank you for letting us use your equipment, Recovery Girl.” Nighteye said as he moved a single strand of hair under the microscope, and using the monitor connected to it to project the thing for everybody to see.

“No problem,  _ Dearie. _ I usually only use that to teach medical class to the students showing promises with  _ Healing Quirks _ , so I don’t have many excuses to whip it out.” a very short old woman in Superhero costume answered with a chuckle.

“Good to hear.” James Heller commented, and they all watched as the hair in the screen appeared perfectly normal even if it came from one of his aliases.

“We used one of your hair, since Midoriya-san’s refuse to leave his head...Won’t this influence the test?” Toshinori asked.

“The principle behind the mutation is the same, it is still  ** _Blacklight_ ** giving Izuku powers, it’s only the fear of infecting everything around him that caused every cell of his body to act as a homing device and do everything in their power to return to the main body. Everything else it’s up to  _ norm _ .” Heller answered.

“You really put the fear of God in him, Heller-san.” Mirio commented.

“In my defence, it was not intentional, I did not expect Izuku’s paranoia to do this to the Virus. Now put a hair in there Toshinori.  _ Without wishing to pass the Quirk _ , please.” Heller instructed while stressing the last part.

“Don’t worry, you are the last guy I want to have this, you have already enough problems as it is.” All Might answered, chuckling, and plucking-out a single hair from his own head to let it lie next to Heller’s under the microscope.

“Thank you.” the other replied with a ‘ _ grateful’ _ grunt.

To the onlookers’ surprise the black hair immediately broke-down into semi-liquid form to Consume Toshinori’s hair until only the James' one remained.

“That is fairly brutal, by the looks of it, it looked like a case of total cellular absorption.” Recovery Girl guessed.

“Exactly. My Virus, and so Izuku’s one as well, are very selective in terms of Host, and if you are not compatible, you get Consumed. Meaning that everything of you gets absorbed with only what is deemed ‘ _ Useful’ _ remaining to be added to Blacklight’s repertoire, the rest become inert _ Biomass _ to fuel the transformation powers _ .  _ Worst case scenario, the infected just becomes a Carrier: a zombie-like creature with the single mission to spread infection until another optimal Host is found.” Heller explained while re-absorbing that single hair.

“There are similar cases already in nature, few fungi and parasites can de-facto control the mind of their host once infected them.” Nighteye confirmed.

“Yes, that’s why I insist on passing your Quirk to Mirio, we cannot risk whatever  _ aspect _ of Blacklight remaining in the Quirk to turn it into a highly-infectious Virus that’s so picky it destroys the Host if they are not up to its standards.” James said, sighing.

“I am with Heller-san in this, Toshinori. I have never seen anything like that before. We tried with saliva, blood and even sweat and got the same results. There is no telling IF your  **One for All** will even survive once put in contact with  **Blacklight** , you risk destroying the Quirk itself.” Recovery Girl added.

“You are right.” All Might answered with a sigh.

“I know you want the next holder to be immediately able to use the Quirk to its fullest potential, but you are not just gambling with only your legacy, remember.” Nighteye explained.

“The torch of the  _ Symbol of Hope _ can be held up by two hands, sir All Might. Both me and Midoriya-kun can be your successors.” Mirio offered with a kind smile.

“I don’t want you to feel like you were the second choice.” Toshinori answered with a small voice.

“To be fair, I was the first choice, and Midoriya-kun became the new first just because you though he was a  _ Quirkless, _ if ever, you kind of implied you almost choose him out of pity.” the young man answered.

“Oh...That does sound bad too...”

“If  **One for All** really needs to be passed-on, then I would go for Mirio, truth be told. He was the best candidate before we arrived.” Heller declared with a shrug.

“Are you still up for it?” Nighteye asked.

“Yes, I will devote my life into making you proud of me being the successor of  **One for All** , I will do my best to make justice to this Quirk.” Mirio then said.

“Mirio...” Toshinori said, looking extremely touched by the declaration.

“By the way, Izuku said the same thing, he too thinks Mirio will be a better choice than him.” Heller added.

“...Thanks, Mirio-kun.” Toshinori said with a grateful smile while plucking-out a new hair from his head.

“Swallow this, and make me proud.” he then said.

“Thank you, All Might.” the boy answered, with tears in his eyes, as he swallowed the tiny thing...With some difficulty.

“Your shampoo tastes awful, Sir.”

“Ah-ha.” the Pro Hero answered with a sarcastic laugh, gaining chuckles from the others watching.

“Well! This passing of the torch was fairly anti-climactic, I’ll be going.”

“Thank you for your time, James.” Nighteye said, grateful.

“Don’t worry about it. Just treat your student well, Toshinori.”

“Student ** _S_ ** , plural.” All Might answered with a mischievous smile.

“Uh?”

“Nobody says I can’t take both Mirio and Midoriya under my wing to train both as my Successors.” 

“Do you mind sharing, Mirio?” Nighteye asked, somehow with a straight face.

“Teacher, please! Don’t make it sound dirtier than it is!” Mirio answered with a very embarrassed expression.

“I did not say you could steal my student, scrawny-ass.” James hissed while moving so close to be nose-to-nose with Toshinori.

“And you would deny to young Midoriya the chance to be a student of his  ** _Number One Idol_ ** ?” All Might answered.

“You are really going to pull that move? I thought you were a goody-two-shoes! What would people think if they learn that their precious idol is going through such underhanded measures?” the other countered with acidic sarcasm.

“Afraid he will prefer me?” All Might asked.

“Tch! We both know who between us is the real man,  _ Dry Bones _ .” 

“Mom, Dad, please stop arguing.” Recovery Girl said with a heavily sarcastic tone, making both briefly glare at her.

“James, I have been doing Hero Business for years. I know how things work, both the  _ Good  _ and  _ The Bad _ . I won’t let the Hero Association sway them and turn them into attention-seeking, thumbs-up-hunting fools. I’ll do my best in shaping them into proper Heroes, the kind of Heroes they both want to be; I am not denying that you did a great job teaching young Midoriya how to use the powers you gave him...But you are still afraid the world will hunt you, and you are holding the boy back with that same fear. Let him shine.” Toshinori asked.

“I lost my daughter and wife because of Blacklight, then I lost the second woman I had started to love. Sorry if I don’t see the world with rose-tinted glasses.” Heller answered, annoyed.

“I won’t stop him should he come to you for help, I am just asking you to let him follow his dreams.”

“...Fine! But I will hold you responsible should anything happen to Izuku. And if by any chance I see government people sticking their nose too close to him and his mother, you all will pay the price.” the man answered while marching towards the door.

“You won’t regret this, James-san.” Mirio promised.

“I hope so.” James answered with a tired sigh, and exiting the infirmary once dodged one of the teachers, Shota Aizawa, entering the same room to lie on one of the beds with a tired expression.

“...”

“...I hate my class.” the man said after a long silence.

“Which one? You hate them all indiscriminately.” Recovery Girl asked while rolling her eyes at the man’s usual temper tantrum.

“1-A” the man grunted.

“The one with young Midoriya. Can I ask you why you singled them out in your annual " _ I hate my class." _ moment?” Toshinori asked, curious.

“One of the brats was not taught finesse, so he simply broke everything in his fear of failing.”

“Fear of...Oh! I think I know which student you are talking about.” the number One Hero of Japan uttered with a sigh of dismay. 

“...Did you perhaps go through your infamous ‘ _ Fail this Test and you will be expelled’ _ speech?” Nighteye asked, even if he already knew the answer.

“You mean that it always was an empty threat?! I had nightmares about that for my entire first year!” Mirio asked, horrified.

“Yes, unless the results are truly abysmal and the student shows zero attitude, nobody gets expelled if they fail, they just get moved to the  _ Support Classes _ . That’s all. They are still asked to learn to control their Quirk, and for that, they have to take part to classes here.” Nighteye answered.

“Oh, my God!”

“That is the plan we all agreed on: scaring them a little so that they will take the tests seriously instead of treating the test as a game...But you others always fail to tell me when one or more of them have Quirks that are easily-influenced by emotions, especially  _ Stress _ .” Aizawa answered, bitterly.

“Can you please tell us the entire story?” All Might asked with a groan, and pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the incoming headache.

“I’ll try, if I have to. The parts where I was not there it's all I have guessed by asking around, so...” Eraserhead started his tale from there, all the while perusing one of the beds, all for the ire of Recovery Girl.

**Earlier that day – Class 1-A – First lesson of the day - **

There was a war of stares ongoing in the middle of the class as soon as Izuku and Himiko had entered, and the one actually showing the heaviest glare was the blond boy with wild hair of the two.

“Why are you here,  _ Deku _ ? You don’t even have a Quirk!” Bakugo asked, spitting his question in distaste.

“I do have a Quirk, Katsuki-san.” Izuku answered, and he ignored the momentary upward jerking of the boy’s eyebrows at the use of his name instead of the nickname  _ Kacchan _ .

“Since when?” Bakugo asked, snorting.

“Since I was four.”

“Not only you are useless, you are also a liar.” he answered, trying to ignore the  ** _terrifying_ ** glare Himiko was launching at him from behind Izuku, one that held no humanity or sanity behind.

“I must intrude in this. Many of us actually saw his Quirk in action, in even too many ways.” Iida corrected him.

“Nobody asked your opinion,  _ Four eyes! _ ”

“Why you never showed it, eh? Afraid? I bet it’s a little, useless-”

** _Sling!_ **

In answer Izuku’s eyes narrowed, and in a twisting of broken-and-rebuilding flesh his arms changed; the left one showed the five long blades of the  ** _Claw Form_ ** while the right arm morphed into the long, thick and jagged single blade of the  ** _Blade Form_ ** . Each arm was a rather grotesque intertwining of root-like black muscles forming  _ “arms”  _ twice the sizes of his normal ones to withstand the weight of the added mass and different shape.

As soon as they came, the two mutations receded so to return his arms back to normal, even the torn sleeves of his uniform rebuilt themselves, making many guess if his clothes too were part of his Quirk.

“It’s both cool and horrifying.” Mineta admitted, grimacing.

“I find it manly, though. I mean, he can grow his own knives!” Kirishima countered.

“He could have shown it off in another way. Like growing tits, perhaps.”

“You have a problem, dude.” the other replied with a sigh.

“And why were you keeping it hidden, uh?! Did you feel it was beneath you to show it?” Bakugo asked, eyes narrowed and a dangerous growl in his voice.

“No, because I thought we were friends. I thought you would have hated me for having a Quirk you thought was  _ Cool as yours _ and that it would have made you angry, but instead you got angry because you thought I was Quirkless; I was never good in your eyes, EVERYBODY is inferior in your eyes, I have no idea why you want to be the Top Hero and honestly...I-I don’t think I care anymore. You want to be Number One? Go on and get to the top, just let me do my job as a Hero.” 

“...What did you say?” the other answered, and the tone was different from what Izuku was used to hearing, it sounded almost... _ Hurt _ .

“I said I have grown-up since we were 5. I am moving forward, with or without you, Katsuki-san.” he answered with a sigh.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Bakugo roared.

“Or else? Sit down and keep quiet.” It was then that Eraserhead entered the class, surprising everybody by turning-off the explosion in Bakugo’s hands with a mere look.

“Contrary to what you all may believe, a Quirk is not what makes or brakes a Hero. There will be moments where you won’t be able to use your Powers, and if your entire skill-set revolves around it, you will put your life and the life of everybody around you at risk.  _ One-Trick-Ponies _ help nobody.” Aizawa explained.

“You all are not here to be the world’s strongest man or woman, but to be a  ** _Hero_ ** . We don’t teach you how to brawl like drunkards in a pub so to be the  _ Top Dog _ , we form the next generation of Heroes that will make sure people can sleep safely at night knowing that there is somebody out there defending them. If you need to stroke your Ego with some show of strength, then do it outside this school, because if we see that happen in class against your classmates, we won’t have mercy.” the Teacher explained, and many could swear he was leveling a deathly-cold stare at Bakugou while saying that.

“Now, since you are here for your first day, I will decide if you actually have what it takes to actually STAY here. Grab these suits and follow me, I am going to evaluate your Quirks. It will be useful to understand your limits, measure yourself with your classmates and for ME personally to decide if you are worth the effort. There will be points to gain in this little test, the last one on the scoreboard will be expelled.”

“E-E-Expelled?” Mina Ashido asked with an expression of pure fear, and at that moment her complexion looked ashen instead of bright pink.

“Yes. As I said, I have no intention to waste time if you are not worth the effort.” Aizawa answered, uninterested, and pulling out a sleeping bag from behind his desk he had stuffed with identical gym suits branded with the High School insignia he then threw at the students.

**Present Time – Infirmary -**

“Pretty brutal, this time.” Toshinori commented.

“That boy was about to attack another student, and by reading the files on them, it was either one green-haired head exploding and regenerating, or a blond brat getting shredded to ribbons and staying dead, and since I cannot fully cancel  _ Mutation Quirks _ , I preferred to defuse the blondie.” Aizawa answered with a shrug.

“That attitude may be a problem, though, any good Villain could ideally use his short temper against him.” Nighteye mused.

“Yeah, that’s why I asked  _ Mad Shrink _ if he was open to the idea of a weekly meeting to resolve it; what the other kids told me smelled like ‘ ** _Superiority-Inferiority Complex_ ** ’, and for whatever reason nobody before now saw a reason to help the boy fix it.” Aizawa answered.

“Not  _ Dog Hound _ ?” Toshinori asked, curious.

“Too gentle, the boy will need a firm hand, so while he needs somebody good to talk to, he also needs somebody not  _ weak _ enough to give him the idea he is still in full control.  _ Mad _ is used to deal with very head-strong people.”

“His old school probably turned a blind eye to it thanks to his Quirk. So they may have even secretly helped his issues developing.” Nighteye said, making Toshinori sigh in dismay.

“That’s what I thought as well.”

“Another one...Every year we have at least one of them.” the Number 1 Pro Hero said in dismay.

“One of them?” Mirio asked, confused.

“We jokingly call them ‘ ** _Poster Boys/Poster Girls’_ ** : kids with very-developed or  _ Flashy/Powerful _ Quirks that minor schools groom into becoming the shining example of their “ _ Greatness _ ” before sending them to us or other High Schools for Heroes...In short brats that get an easy pass in doing whatever they want with the hope that one day, when those brats become Pro Heroes, they will remember their school and give them absurd quantities of good publicity.” Aizawa explained.

“And does that happen?” 

“It hasn’t happened yet, especially since we usually manage to snap them out of that mentality and teach them to act like normal people. Worst case, they go Villain and their school themselves do everything in their power to erase every proof they went there to save their image. Unfortunately it never taught them to stop doing that.” Toshinori answered.

“Oh...” Mirio uttered with a sad expression.

“I blame social media.” Aizawa answered, shrugging yet again.

“You always do that. Now continue, what happened during your Quirk Test?” Recovery Girl answered.

“Oh, THERE was when it really hit the fan...That boy with the  _ Metamorphic  _ Quirk was already hyperventilating when we got to the Test Ground, then I started calling the names.” the man answered.

**Earlier that day – Test Ground for Aizawa’s class Quirk Test - **

The assembled students were all looking at the simple field filled in equipment, it was no different from any normal school field used during gym class, and yet, thanks to Aizawa’s words, the place to them felt no different from a mine-field, as if any wrong step could end their life abruptly instead of their possible career as a Hero.

There was a wide variety of expressions too, from coldly uninterested (but still worried) faces like Todoroki and Bakugo, to full-blown fear like Mineta and Toru...Then there was Izuku whose entire being kept rippling violently thanks to his near-hysteria putting the  **Blacklight** inside him into overdrive.

“You’ll do great, stop worrying.” Himiko said while pouncing on the opening his terror offered to grab his hand and squeeze it hard, she was the only one of the entire class to not worry.

“How can you be so calm?” Izuku asked in awe.

“Huhuhu! I trust my abilities and I trust  _ yours _ , if there is somebody that can pass this test, that’s us!” she answered, chuckling, and unknown to her that musical half-laugh sent a pleasurable tingle up the boy’s spine.

“Y-Y-Yeah.” he answered, finally smiling a little.

“Good to see you are taking this seriously.” Aizawa finally said, once seen all of them grouped closely and looking at him with rapt attention.

“The thing is fairly simple, we’ll even start with an easy one:  _ Ball Toss _ ! These little spheres have inside a small tracking device that will tell me how far you will throw it, you can use your Quirk freely, if you think that can help. The farthest you throw, the better. 

Go crazy with your Quirks too, these are made to take the beating. First place gets the most points,” the Teacher said before passing that small ball to Bakugo.

“You first,  _ firecracker _ . Stand there and shoot that ball as far as you can.” he asked while pointing to the circle drawn on the floor next to him.

“Watch and be amazed!” Bakugo said with a challenging tone as he stepped inside the circle and cocked back his arm.

“ **DIE!”** The boy screamed with an animalistic roar, and accompanying the throw with an explosion that almost deafened the entire class and shot the ball far away.

_ Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!… _

A long series of pings rang-out from Aizawa’s phone as he kept track of the distance the ball traveled in its fly.

“For your interest, each ping equals to ten meters.” the teacher said while keeping his eyes glued to the phone.

“Ah! I shot that bitch in the stratosphere!” Bakugo said with a smug smile.

“Not really, but  **705.2** meters is still a good result.” Aizawa answered, and behind him many students looked impressed.

One after another all of them were called, although nobody managed to beat Bakugou’s record, thing that did not help the boy’s Ego, and Himiko herself showed a fairly good result even without strength-enhancing Quirks ( _ “I was a beast of a pitcher back in middle school” _ she will say with a smirk), this undefeated record continued until Ochako used her Gravity Quirk to  _ literally _ send the ball into the stratosphere, forcing Aizawa to award her with the awe-inspiring ‘ _ Infinity’ _ distance…

Making her immediately jump to the top of Bakugo’s ‘ _ Enemy List’ _ as an added extra.

It was finally Izuku’s turn, and he could not be more nervous as Aizawa’s voice whispering “ _ Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! _ ” kept ringing inside his head.

“ _ Please, please, please! I want to throw it far away, I NEED TO THROW IT FAR AWAY! _ ” the kid thought in hysteria, hoping for  **Blacklight** to indeed have enough sentience to hear his plea.

_ WHAM! _ And with a heavy sound,  **Blacklight** answered to the boy’s prayer.

“Holy shit!” Kaminari summed-up the class feeling at the spectacle while Aizawa himself simply raised an eyebrow.

The sound had been caused by Izuku’s  _ strengthened _ right arm, elongating and growing to the point the giant hand’s knuckles slammed heavily on the floor, the arm was now twice the size of the boy’s entire body and utterly muscled, giant and clearly powerful.

“FLY!” yelling with a tone of desperation, young Midoriya grabbed the ball ( _ so small compared to the hand that he just grabbed it with only two fingers _ ) and tossed it as hard as he could with a  _ Bang! _ Sound following immediately after due to the sudden acceleration of the thing.

_ PiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPiPi! _

Aizawa’s phone could hardly keep-up in measuring the distance as the ball immediately disappeared from view with each ping coming too fast for the previous one to be properly played.

_ PiPiPiP-… _

_ “Uh? _ ” Aizawa muttered unsure as the signal stopped abruptly and the ‘ ** _Collision_ ** **’ ** Alert popped-up.

“It seems like you hit something, too bad. Still, good result:  **2 Kilometers and 854 meters** .” 

Utter silence fell on the class at that ludicrous result, second only to Uraraka’s similarly-crazy throw.

**Present Time - **

“Wooo, that was a good throw.” Toshinori admitted with a chuckle.

“And it went downhill from there.” Aizawa answered with a sigh.

“I am curious, did you recover the ball? What did it hit?” Nighteye asked.

“...Captain Skyline.” the other replied, wincing.

“Eh? The flying Hero with dragonfly wings?” Mirio muttered, confused.

“Exactly him. That kid managed to shoot-down Captain Skyline mid-Internship, he was teaching flying lessons to his intern, something about how to use her own flying Quirk for surveillance, when the ball smashed his helmet open making him fall to the ground already unconscious. 

The hospital report said it is a Concussion, they were still waiting for him to wake-up when I was called to ask why one of our balls almost split a Pro Hero’s head open.” Aizawa explained.

“A foam ball gave a man a concussion after blowing apart a helmet?” Toshinori said, unnerved.

“Thrown at sufficient speed, at the point of impact it could technically happen, although the strength required would be insane.” Nighteye answered, unsure.

“The other tests?”

“Ah! Yeah, those.” Aizawa answered with a bitter chuckle.

**50 Meters dash Test - **

“ _ Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! _ ” again, the Teacher’s voice echoed inside Izuku’s head.

“ _ Oh, nonononono! Run! Run Fast! _ ” the boy thought in fear...And his Quirk broke-down his legs’ muscles to rewire them for ultimate performances.

“You better run fast, kiddo. GO!” Aizawa suggested before giving him the go signal, and watching in dismay as the kid turned the track into a war-zone filled in craters, one for each step he took until he reached the goal.

“... **2.03 seconds** , nice.” he admitted, fairly impressed.

**Grip Strength Test - **

“ _ Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! _ ”

“ _ Oh, God Please! _ ”

“Whenever you want, squeeze it hard to-”

_ CRACK! _

“I-I-I-Is it good enough?” Izuku asked with a worried tone while looking at the grip-measuring machine he had just  _ crumpled _ like paper.

“Yes.” the teacher answered dryly, and curiously, the same test had ‘ ** _Yes’_ ** written as a score next to Izuku’s name.

“You others wait here, I am getting a new one and then we can continue.” Aizawa said with a sigh while walking a bit away to make a call.

**Standing Long Jump - **

“ _ Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! _ ”

_ BOOM! _

The terrain exploded as Izuku propelled himself way too far, and landed several meters beyond the end of the sandbox with the power of a meteor.

“This is going to be a long day...” Aizawa said with a sigh, having learned to leave that kid for last, so to salvage the Test for the rest of the class, especially with the hole the boy created from his jump.

“...I am going home...” Mineta said with a defeated sigh while walking away, already guessing _ he _ will end at the last place, and Tsuyu had to begrudgingly stop him before he could leave for real.

**Repeated Side Steps Test - **

“ _ Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! Expelled! _ ”

_ BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

The  _ Earthquake _ of Izuku’s sidesteps lasted for barely a minute, but it was still enough for Aizawa to get a distress call from the city’s geology research commission asking if everybody was alright since the school appeared to be the epicenter...The poor man really felt like crying at watching the field get destroyed like that.

The only Tests where the boy didn’t make damages were the sits-up and the toe-touch ones, although Aizawa was fairly certain that using shape-shifting Quirks to  _ remove _ the rib-cage and organs and fold in half like an origami could be considered cheating.

**Present time - **

“And then there was the Distance Run and Stamina Test...I had to personally tackle the kid down, otherwise he would have kept running forever. He came second place actually, by two points, and only because the Yaoyorozou girl did slightly better than him at side steps. And because I HAD TO give him some form of penalty for the damages he made. ” Aizawa finished his tale with a tired sigh.

“The equipment had long needed to be changed anyway, at least we finally have a good excuse to get new, more updated instruments.” Nighteye answered.

“It just means that this year we have a good pool of students, we just need to adjust their attitude a little! Do not despair, Aizawa-kun!” Toshinori said with a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, yeah.” the other replied.

“By the way, I met  _ Endeavor _ while coming here, why was he more angry than usual?” Aizawa asked.

“Apparently his kid refused to take part to the  _ Recommendation Entrance Test _ once discovered that his father had recommended him. Endeavor took it personally, apparently.” Toshinori answered, shrugging.

“So it’s true that between father and son things are not nice?” Nighteye asked.

“Considering how callous Endeavor can be even in his best days? It would not surprise me if even at home things are not peachy.” 

“That is nice and all, but I need that bed, Shouta! And you need to go to class!”

“I don’t wanna. I’ll skip.” the man answered, groaning.

“You will go instead!” the old woman growled back.

“You are not my mom!”

“Worse! I am your Healer! And you do not make your Healer angry! Now get out of that bed and go to class!” Recovery Girl bellowed, incredibly grabbing Aizawa by the ear and tossing the man outside the room no matter how bigger he was than her.

“Wow.”

“She is basically our  _ White Mage _ , Toshinori. And you know the old adage:  ** _You don’t fuck with the White Mage_ ** .” Nighteye said while adjusting his glasses.

“True.” Mirio admitted.

**Meanwhile – Lunchtime - **

The young students of Class 1A had just entered the place when Izuku noticed that a strange boy with wild grey hair was insistently glaring at them.

“Who’s that guy?” he asked to Iida.

“Oh, I unfortunately have no idea. He should be a first year student like us, though.” Iida answered.

“Oh! That is Tetsutetsu-chan! From Class 1B! Don’t worry, he is just challenging you.” a familiar voice said from a near table.

“Nejire-senpai!” Izuku said with a happy smile, having noticed the girl just then.

“Nu-uh! It’s  _ Nejire-chan! _ You know it!” the girl answered with a vibrant smile while pinching his cheeks.

“Huhuhu! They are sooo soft!” she then said in glee while cheerfully playing with the boy’s cheeks.

“ _ Pwease, sembhai! It tickls!”  _ Izuku begged with a voice distorted by the manhandling of his face.

“Five more minutes!” the girl answered with a whine.

How the girl also ignored the unspoken death glares the rest of the school were launching at the boy, nobody knew; it was clear though that nobody seemed to appreciate the closeness the two friends were sharing.

“Will you cut it out please? You are making a fool of yourself.” Himiko asked while gently separating the two.

“Fine!”

“By the way, senpai, why you said Tetsu-san was challenging us?” Izuku asked once freed from the girl’s pinching fingers.

And stoically ignoring both Mina’s and Toru’s fingers delicately poking a cheek each.

_ Poke! Poke! Poke! _

“He does feel like poking  _ mochi _ , you think it’s his Quirk?” Mina whispered.

_ Poke! Poke! Poke! _

“Dunno.” Toru answered, unsure.

“You two...Please...Stop.” Behind them, Momo begged with a groan while grabbing Tsuyu’s hand before she too could try.

“ _ Ribbit! _ Spoilsport.”

“And why is that little bitch challenging us, uh? What? Does he want his ass kicked into next century?!” Bakugou asked while returning the glare of Tetsutetsu with his own.

“YOU GUYS FROM 1A ARE INSUFFERABLE! What?! Do you think to be so awesome just because you have a  _ Monster _ and three  _ Superhumans _ in your class?! I’ll show everybody who’s stronger! Come at me! I: TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU WILL DESTROY YOU!” Tetsutetsu roared back while turning his skin into shining steel.

"Who's the Monster? Katsuki?" Izuku asked with a whisper. 

"I think not." Iida answered.

"Oh! Then who is it?" The boy asked.

"Maybe we'll never know." The other answered with a forced smile while images of Izuku's mangled ' _ corpse _ ' returning to life briefly flashed in his mind.

“WAIT! His full name is  _ Tetsutestu Tetsutetsu _ ? Like, repeated twice?...Were his parents under drugs when they named him?” Himiko asked aloud, making a tense silence fall into the room.

“I don’t think so, and even then, I don’t believe it would be proper to ask.” Nejire answered, a bit unnerved by the sudden silence.

“MY PARENTS ARE NOT DRUG-USERS, YOU BITCH! FIGHT ME IF YOU DARE!” Tetsu bellowed madly as he rushed forward to face Himiko.

“IGNORE THE EXTRA! FIGHT ME INSTEAD!” Bakugo answered, looking especially thrilled at the idea of fighting.

_ Clang! _

As soon it became clear that the two would fight, Izuku too made his move, surprising his classmates with the heavy metallic-like sound he produced.

“Now now! Fighting is prohibited inside the school, especially in the cafeteria.” Mirio said as he managed to stop Tetsutetsu’s charge mid-way by phasing through the floor and grabbing him by the back of his neck to stop him.

“Why you stopped me!?” the boy demanded.

“Because there is no need to fight, come on! Get back to your seat, the pie today is to die for!” Mirio answered while gently pushing him back towards his table.

“This is not over yet!” the young man hissed a last time before begrudgingly leaving.

“It’s okay, Midoriya-kun, drop the shield.” 

“Thank you, Mirio-senpai.” Izuku answered, grateful, while de-transforming the giant spiked shield protecting him, Himiko and the others behind him, back into his normal arms.

"Hey, Bastard! I was the only one you were not defending!" Bakugo roared angrily.

"I thought you didn't need help from others!" Izuku answered.

"I...You...IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT MATTERS!" the other shrieked, unsure.

"Wow, Nejire was right, you are a  _ Tsundere. _ " Tamaki uttered in mild surprise.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Bakugo roared in answer.

"Why don't you sit next to us? They always leave one free for some reasons!" Nejire asked with a blinding smile while pointing to the empty table right next to the one their class occupied.

The reason why that happened was fairly simple: she, Mirio and Tamaki were considered " ** _The Big 3_ ** " of the school, the strongest students, meaning that between  _ Rivals _ and  _ Fans _ there was a secret War for who got to sit next to them...Thing that resulted in that table going unused most of the times.

"You are our seniors, we would hate to disturb." Iida answered, unsure.

"Too formal! Too formal! Come on! Join us!" Nejire answered, chuckling. 

"Don't mind if we do then!" Mina answered while the rest of the kids sat down, and immediately making their class everybody's enemy.

Especially since Mirio ended-up sitting right next to Izuku since both occupied the seats at the very end of their respective tables. 

"So...Done?" The boy asked with a meaningful look.

"Uh-hu! Just a couple minutes ago." Mirio answered.

"Congratulations then!" The other answered with a wide smile.

"Thank you, but Sir Nighteye wanted me to tell you that you have been consctipted as well! We are both Heirs now!" The older student said with a chuckle.

"EEEH?! But-But-But!"

"No but, se have both been chosen, so you are just as deep I am in this."

"...Sorry…" Izuku muttered with a low, ashamed voice.

'HAHAHA! What for? I am happy to have a partner! Come on! Smile! We have a great future ahead and big shoes to fill!" Mirio laughed amused while also playfully trapping the kid's head under his arm.

"What are they talking about?" Todoroki asked with a plain, albeit curious, tone.

"Something about their future partnership." Himiko answered chuckling.

"Don't rope me into this." Tamaki said with a sigh.

"Come on! It will be fun!" Nejire countered.

"...Fine."

"He is a strange boy…" Todoroki muttered while fixating Izuku with a strange, calculative gaze.

**Meanwhile - at the opposite side of the city - **

"No, O God please, No!" A normal schoolkid whimpered as a long prehensile tongue half-strangled him, turning his voice into a weak whimper.

"Oooh, Saito! You are so pretty! I love pretty boys! I never tire of eating them!' The girl was hanging from the wall on all-four with her giant bulging eyes fixed on the struggling kid.

"Let me go...please…" the boy pleaded weakly a last time, before his eyes rolled upward and he stopped struggling.

"Huhuhuhu! Soon you'll become part of me, forever." The girl said while opening her mouth impossibly wide.

_ Chomp! _

"You are surprisingly hard to find, for somebody with various murder charges." A humanoid figure with a body seemingly made out of black-purple smoke said with a curious tone.

"Uh?" The deranged schoolgirl, still with her ' _ Crush _ ' legs sticking out from her mouth, asked.

"I work for a group of individuals that may benefit from your talents, and you too will benefit from working with us just as much." Kurogiri offered with a pleasant tone. 

"What kind of benefits?" The Girl asked once swallowed the boy whole making her stomach deform and inflate grotesquely.

The man simply ignored the angry squinting of the girl's bulbous eyes and merely chuckled.

"We are preparing for a small incursion to meet a couple inspiring Heroes we would like to eliminate before they become a nuisance. We are still organizing as the opening we need has not come yet, but like this you will have time to adjust to our methods. Are you interested?" Kurogiri asked.

"...Will there be cute boys?" The girl asked after a long pause of thought.

"All the guys you can eat." The other answered.

"And cute girls? I need to eat those too to remain beautiful." She then asked while caressing her face.

Every inch of her body was covered in rough, dry skin covered in warts and acid-green in colour, making her look more lizard than human, especially with her hunchback posture.

"We'll feed you all the girls you want, little chameleon." Kurogiri answered with an amused narrowing of his eyes.

"Yuna, my name is  _ Yuna Yashikawa _ ." The chameleon girl answered while showing a terrifying smile, and the human teeth looked uncanny in her giant lizard mouth.

"And I am Kurogiri. Welcome to the  _ League of Villains _ ." He answered while opening a portal for both.

"Thank you!" Yuna answered with a giggle, and using the portal as instructed so that both could disappear before police arrived.

**Extra Scene - locker room talk -**

It was finally the moment of a shower once done with a particularly heavy training regimen in the High-school gym, one where it looked like Gunhead wanted to see how long he took to demolish the new students.

_ Girl Side  _

"I am just saying that using all that weight as our starting point is honestly too much!" Mina said with a huff while dropping her towel to wear a fresh pair of underwear.

" _ Ribbit _ ! They just want us to give our best…" Tsuyu answered. 

"..."

"…"

"What?" Mina asked once seen how the girls were looking at her.

"Leopard print?" Momo asked while eyeing the tiny thong and bra the pink girl was wearing.

"I like to look my best, thank you. " Mina answered.

"It does look nice on you...Even if it's a bit too bold." Ochako admitted.

"Thank you."

"I love it, do they make it in splotches of red?" Himiko asked while nearing her own locker. 

"Huhuhu! We can go check if you want!" Mina answered, grinning.

"I would love that!"

When Himiko as well lowered her towel to wear a clean bra, one of the girls in there fell into sorrowful silence. 

"You okay, Kyoka?" Toru asked.

"...Yeah…" the girl answered lamely, unhappily noticing a key difference between herself and the other girls...Compared to them, her chest was the size of raisins!

Her classmates all had some serious  ** _honkers_ ** !

Each one of them had damn real set of  ** _badonkers_ ** !

Starting with Toru, that apparently ( _ judging by the shape of the floating towel _ ) was packin some big  ** _dobonhonkeros_ ** !

Or Ochako and her massive  ** _dohoonkabhankoloos_ ** !

Not that Tsuyu's big ol'  ** _tonhongerekoogers _ ** were anything to sneeze at!

But what happens next?! God is not happy with little Jiro's misery and adds Himiko to the scene! She and her even bigger  ** _bonkhonagahoogs_ ** ! 

And then Momo herself and those humongous **_hungolomghononoloughongous_** of hers! Really! How can her spine sustain _those_ _two_?! What kind of _Fanservice-y Anime _has her life turned into?!

" _ WHAT THE FUCK?!" _

_ " NO FUCKING WAY!" _

_ "WHYYYYYYYY!" _

"What's happening?" Momo asked, alarmed. 

"The boys are showering too, right?" Himiko answered with a malicious smile of utter cruel amusement.

"Yes? What does it have to do with that screaming?" Tsuyu asked back, confused.

"Ufufufufu! Those guys just learned the true meaning of ' ** _Biological Superiority_ ** '. Izu-kun's  _ Quirk  _ elevates one's body onto perfection." Himiko answered while dropping her towel completely so to get dressed and proudly displaying the tattoo she had on her lower back, right above her butt.

_ Property of M. I. _

Written in an elegant font decorated by an intricate tribal design forming an arrow pointing lower still.

"That is a small present for Izu-kun, please don't spoil the surprise." She asked.

"Okay…" the other girls answered, now looking deeply disturbed. 

_ Meanwhile - Male sides - _

" _ Waaaaaah _ !" Izuku was seen escaping the room in tears of shame while  **Blacklight** automatically recreated his school uniform so to cover him.

Inside the locker room in the air was both somber and heavy as every boy in there had his eyes downcast and an expression of deep misery.

"...I hope you are happy, Bakugo. You ' _ Playfully _ ' tore off his towel...And now here we are." Mezo said with a grumble.

"SHUT UP!" Bakugo yelled back with a red face.

"It was really disgraceful." Iida added.

"I think we suffered enough, don't you think? Look at Mineta! He saw everything first row!" Kirishima answered in tears.

" _ Waaaaaaah _ ! I will have nightmares for days!" Mineta yelled while crying his eyes out.

"We need to make sure the chicks never learn of this, or we will never find a girl." Kirishima declared with a sob.

"You all are overthinking this, all for some envy. I am shocked." Tokoyami said while calmly finishing dressing, behind his back  _ Dark Shadow _ simply shook its head.

"Should we apology?" Todoroki asked.

"Bakugo forced him to flash his  _ bits _ to all of us, somebody has to." The birdman answered. 

"I'll accompany you." The young man answered with a nod.

"...Even if I don't understand why he was ashamed, many in his place would have been insufferably smug about such a  _ gift _ ." Tokoyami said.

"I stand my case, he is a strange boy."

"A bit…"

"..."

"...Don't you think something like that would be a giant bother?" 

"Maybe his Quirk helps with that too." Todoroki answered with a small shrug.

"Seems legit."

And so, another days passed in AU High School, albeit way quieter than normal, something that had Aizawa be on edge at the alien concept of a silent  _ Class 1-A _ .

**End of the extra.**

**I Guessed the League of Villains lacked a Psycho since Himiko here is a Hero, so I gave them a new one.**

**Imagine a giant, Human sized chameleon with human hair and teeth and dressed in a schoolgirl uniform going around eating people for some sick reasons of Love/Beauty.**

**I added ** ** _Yuna _ ** **because I plan for her to be Himiko's nemesis, and have them go through "** ** _Stealth Battles"_ ** ** whenever they meet.**

**A last thing...**

**For Izuku’s Internship I planned for Rumi Usagiyama (** ** _the Pro Hero ‘_ ** _ Miruko _ ** _’_ ** **) since while Izuku has A LOT OF destructive power, he will need somebody to teach him "** ** _Technique"_ ** ** since Heller and Mercer were more on the Brawler/uncaring-demolition style of fighting...And I wish Izuku to pair ** _ Blacklight _ ** with Martial Arts and they need to be the “** ** _Fluid_ ** **” kind of Martial Arts to compliment the various powers Izuku has.**

**And the only Pro I could come up with is the Bunny Hero Rumi…**

**IS THERE ANY EXPERT IN MY HERO ACADEMIA READING THIS THAT CAN SUGGEST A BETTER ONE?! I DON’T WANT TO USE AN ** ** _OC!_ ** ** PLEASE?**

**It also has to work for Himiko because she will follow the same tutoring since Izuku is the only one that can work with her, so they need to be trained together (following All Might’s suggestion).**

**Also...Izuku’s Hero Name…**

**If not **_Deku_** (Translated as: **_I can do it_**) what to use? I was inclined to use **_Kafka _**or** _Darwin_**...For the metamorphosis/adapting thing.**

**Since his title will be: **_“The Ever-Evolving / Ever-changing Hero:”_ **I wanted a name that paired well with it.**

** _HELP_ ** **?**


	5. School Days.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku takes part to the Battle Trial, where he faces Bakugo in more ways than just punching each other into a paste.  
And at the same time, unknown to him, he is catching more attention than anticipated...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not entirely sure of the Izuku/Bakugo battle, I wanted to make it more emotional than just fighting, I hope it will be good enough.
> 
> By the way...  
I LOVE RUMI USAGIYAMA!  
How much?  
1st item on my ‘Ways I would not mind dying in’ it’s: Being choked by her thighs…  
No, I am not sorry, nor ashamed.  
Those legs ROCK!

**Chapter 5: School Days.**

**Penthouse – Rumi Usagiyama’s _‘__Burrow’_ \- **

Rumi Usagiyama is the best Waifu...Also known as the bunny Hero _Miruko,_ a very tall woman with chocolate skin and a strong personality, up there in the Top 10 of Heroes and forever-lover of a good brawl.

Prideful to a fault, and always striving to be the absolute best, she did EVERYTHING in the book to show that a _Rabbit Quirk_ did not mean she could not be a Hero, and as a testament of such, the four walls of her apartment were de facto filled to the brim in absurd quantities of medals and other trophies of all the strength and speed-related competitions she could legally take part to to crush everybody standing between her and the first place.

There were also a couple trophies for horse racing and F1 racing she _stole_ from their old owners through bets, and in both cases she was by herself _on foot_ when she destroyed those Champions’ Records, leaving them in tears AND trophies-less.

No _**Partners**_, no _**Internships**_ no _**T**__**eaching**_, that was her rule! She was a Lone Wolf!...Bunny!...WHATEVER!

_Cha-cling!_

It was the sound of a parcel being dropped through the slit of her apartment’s door that caught her attention, disturbing her morning reveries of the last Villain she literally kicked through a couple of walls and making her grumble annoyed.

(_She was also dressed in a loose bright-pink pajama with cartoon white bunny heads on it, each animal head had an ‘_**x’** shaped_ mouth and a scowl, as per usual for the ‘_**Usa-Chan’****(**_Bunny-chan) Line of clothing she championed...But seeing her in that cutesy attire was a death warrant, she had a _**Badass**_ image to maintain.)_

Grabbing the small thing she torn open the wrap without a second thought, her mail was always thoroughly screened for dangerous stuff, but even then, she was gutsy enough to not mind even if a bomb DID manage to pass through, somehow; instead inside the package she found a DVD and a ticket of her Promoter asking her to call as soon as she got the disk.

“What does she want now?” the Pro Hero muttered while fiddling with her phone.

“..._So you got the disk?”_ The woman at the other side of the phone asked as soon as she picked-up.

“Good morning to you too, jackass.” Rumi answered, annoyed while idly spinning the disk on her finger.

“_Slept well then, you are in a good mood!”_

“Fuck off!”

“_A very good mood! That’s perfect!” _The Promoter said in honest amazement and satisfaction.

“Get to the point, please...” Rumi begged with a groan.

“_Why?_ _**My Little Bunny**__ is about to start?” _the woman asked with a knowing tone.

“YOU KNOW I DON’T WATCH THAT STUFF!” the woman bellowed with a red face.

“_That’s better, the original version with the ponies was way better __than that garbag__-”_

“NOW SEE HERE, YOU HATER!” Rumi roared, before noticing and falling silent along blushing even harder.

“_Don’t worry, your dirty little secret is safe with me. But, returning to the matter at hand, I think I found the perfect Candidate for-”_

“Again with that shit! I don’t do Internship!” Rumi interrupted her again, and when she was about to hang the phone, her Promoter spoke the magical words.

“_Do you want to raise in rank or not?” _

“...I am listening.” the Rabbit Hero muttered with a low and cold voice while her left leg angrily rapped on the floor.

“_You have a spunky personality, great destructive power and thanks to my suggestion, your costume has such a daring cut in the leg and crotch area __that __you also have ‘_Sex Appeal’_ to your side. You are rising like a meteor on the Polls for the ‘_Best Hero’_ in the Forums...You just lack ONE thing to have the entire set __for success__.” _the Promoter explained with a sinister tone.

“A brat following me around like a lost puppy?” Rumi said with a snarl.

“_That too would help, but no. I mean a ‘_Possible Heir/Heiress’_, somebody you have took under your wing to teach them what you know. Your ‘_Lone Wolf’-”

“Rabbit.”

“_Whatever. That ‘Lone Hero’ attitude is good, we have seen it, but lately that is also making you look unapproachable, and unfortunately _Endeavor _has already utterly cornered THAT SIDE of the Fandom.”_

“That moron.” Rumi commented with a frown.

“_Quite, so, since the ‘_**Unapproachable Hero**’_ is taken and the ‘_**Hero and Sidekick shtick’**_ would clash with what we are already doing...We’ll go mid-way: The Lone Hero that has found a possible worthy Heir, while still doing Hero Jobs solo.”_

“I don’t play baby-sitter.” _Miruko_ hissed in contempt.

“_Oh-hoo! I know that, silly bunny! That is why I found you somebody able to take your abrasive personality head-__on__ and come back for more. He is even easy on the eyes, so we’ll catch the ‘_Moe Aficionados’ _too __a__long the ‘_Brutal/Gore Fanatics’, _and all thanks to his face and Quirk!”_ the Promoter said with a proud tone.

“I don’t think-”

“_Did I mention that he is also _Immortal _and/or_ Indestructible? _You can go crazy and he won’t break!...And he has fluffy hair and squishy, adorable freckled cheeks, just as you like them. Really, clean your browsing history sometimes, Rumi.”_

“L-L-LIBEL! LIES!”

“_Whatever you say, you shota deviant. Look at the DVD, I have a friend in UA (_**Nezu**_) that gave me a clandestine copy of what their cameras recorded during their **Battle Trial**, the kid I am talking about is the guy with the green costume, that I was told was designed by two American Big Shots, so the kid is not exactly a nobody. Give it a look and then call me, even just to shot down the idea._” She asked.

“FINE! I will see what the brat has to offer, but IF for whatever reason I lose my mind and I accept, then he will have to keep up! In _Miruko’s World_ there is only one speed: **MINE**.” the Pro Hero answered.

“_Trust me, if the kid is good enough for All Might and Nighteye, you can say that we are stealing gold!”_

“Stealing from the Number One, uh? Nice! I’ll give it a look, bye!”

“_Bye, Rumi!_” the Promoter answered before closing the call.

“So you look promising, eh? Indestructible even! That will be put to test then, IF you catch my eye enough to give you five minutes of my time, that is...” Rumi declared while looking at the DVD.

“But first.” she then said turning-on the GIANT TV in her living room.

“_**My little Bunny! My little Bunny!...**_” the kids’ show intro sang at high volume just as the young woman sat on her sofa.

“_Yaaaay_! Kick their ass, _Twilight Fluffy!_” Rumi exclaimed with a childish squeal of happiness, looking absolutely adorable.

**The Previous day – UA High School – Battle Trial Arena - **

“What am I watching, Yagi?” Nezu, Principal of UA High School, asked with a deadpan stare while waving around the planned schedule for the _**Battle Trial**_ and the names in each group.

“I...I..._Uhm!_...I saw that there is some animosity between Young Midoriya and Young Bakugo, so I thought that once seen that both are capable Heroes and fighters, they would drop the antagonism and be friends?” All Might tried answering with a nervous smile.

“You do know I already signed that Bakugo kid up for mandatory _Anger Managing_ classes, that boy has violent bursts of anger, and you put him against the one kid he has more trouble with?” Nezu asked.

“He thought Young Midoriya was Quirkless, then he learned he kept his Quirk hidden and got angry again...Maybe if he sees that they both have cool Quirks they’ll become friends?”

“You are a great Hero, but as an educator, you suck.”

“You are very harsh, Principal.”

“_Wah-wah-wah_.” Nezu answered.

“I am not whining...” All Might muttered with a low voice.

**Down the Test Floor - **

With a faint sound of static grabbing everybody’s attention, Aizawa’s voice rang from the speakers all around the test area.

“_Okay! We are about to start the Battle Trial! Remember that brutally murdering your classmates will have you expelled. You are __also__ wearing the first Version of your Hero Costume __and support gear so we’ll see what kinks __need __to __be__ work__ed__ out. I repeat: DO NOT. MURDER. EACH OTHER! The Teams for this round have already been formed:_

_On the “_ _ **Hero Side”** _ _: Midoriya Izuku and Toga Himiko._

_On the “_ _ **Villain Side”** _ _: Tenya Iida and Bakugo Katsuki._

_ **START NOW!”** _

“How do we do this?” Izuku asked with a whisper, both him and Himiko already diving for cover as soon as the doors to their side of the test ground opened.

“COME OUT, DEKU! WE NEED TO TALK!” Katsuki was heard roar in fury on the notes of the wild explosions he was creating.

“I guess _Boom-Baka_ elected himself as the active party while Iida-chan guards the bomb! Until you Consume somebody, I am the more stealthy between us, so if you distract him, I can take care of the bomb.” Himiko said, smirking wide.

“Should be easy to distract him, he wants me dead.” Izuku answered with a groan.

“I believe in you!” Himiko answered, leaving him behind with a lightning-fast kiss to the cheek before hurrying away FAST to not show her fiery-red face.

Izuku on his part just discreetly ogled the girl’s godly heart-shaped backside perfectly hugged by the super tiny skin-tight short shorts that were part of her Costume.

“Don’t get strange ideas, she only sees you as a friend...No matter how much her teasing gets to you. N-No matter how much I would die to be more than friends.” he muttered to himself while swallowing hard and cursing _**Blacklight**_ for overcharging _everything_ in his body, even hormones.

Young Himiko had decided to go for the ‘_Bad Girl’_ style for her Hero Costume, short shorts, crop-top with ‘_Daddy’__s__ little monster’_ written on it in a sharp font covered by a blue-and-red leather jacket and red and blue temporary dye on her hair along bright-blue shadow on her eyes and stockings with holes on them over high-heels boots, she even had a choker and a belt buckle with _**‘Daddy’**_ written on them...When asked why she choose that word she would just wink at Izuku and giggle, unknowingly sending his self-control deep underground.

For the Battle Trial she had not brought along the blue domino mask that was supposed to cover the top half of her face.

“Dekuuuu! Where are youuu! Come out to plaaaaay!” in the meantime Bakugo had neared Izuku’s position with only a wall separating the two boys.

“That sounds damn threatening.” the green-haired boy muttered with a shiver while shifting most of his Bio-Mass on his right arm so to enlarge it to huge proportions and take a crude club-like shape covered in blunt stubs in place of a normal fist.

Switching his eyes to _**Thermal Vision**_, Izuku waited for Bakugo to actually be right in front of him before pulling back the _**H**__**ammerfist**_ and punch forward, catching the other boy on the chest and launching him back once utterly demolished wall.

“GAH!” Bakugo howled in pain as he tumbled on the floor.

“I am here, Bakugo.” Izuku declared, switching both arms into the long harpoon-like shape of the _**Whipfist, **_only taking extreme care that this time the tips were actually blunt even if still jagged and mean/cruel looking.

“Finally! Fight me to your best, Deku! I want to break you at your best!” the other replied with a wide toothy grin.

“I won’t go down without a fight, Katsuki-san, not anymore.” Izuku answered while taking a low, half-crouching stance with both arms open wide.

“That’s what pisses me off! Why you kept your Quirk hidden, uh?! You thought it was beneath you to show it?!”

“No, because I used to like you. I thought we were friends, Katsuki-san.”

“What is all this ‘_Katsuki-san’_ bullshit now, hn?!” Bakugo asked while sending a small blast towards Izuku from the grenade-shaped gauntlets he was wearing, forcing the green-haired boy to dive to the floor and watch a near wall develop a giant hole.

_Fwu-Chack!_

“Argh!” in answer Izuku’s left arm snapped forward stretching like its whip name-sake to propel the blunt spikes forward, making it so that it was now Bakugo’s turn to dodge and watch the attack dig a deep gash on the concrete behind him.

“I thought you would have been happy to not hear me call you _Kacchan_ anymore. What? I can’t be your friend and I can’t take distance!? What do you want from me!?” Izuku asked while recalling his stretched arm just long enough to send both arms forward in a new attack.

_BANG!_

“I want you to be honest for once in your fucking life! Stop lying!” Bakugo answered while rolling to the side to send a duo of explosions towards Izuku, and watching the other switch his arms into a duo of shields he linked together to defend himself.

“I am being honest! I just want to be a Hero, damnit! I don’t care about followers, Score and Popularity Polls! What’s so hard to believe about it?!” Izuku answered with an annoyed tone while switching both arms into _**Muscle Form**_ to assault Bakugo with a flurry of wild punches.

_CRAAAASH!_

Bakugo could only watch in surprise as the ‘_weakling crybaby’_ he knew just exploded a wall with a single punch encased in pitch-black hardened muscles right were his head used to be before he dove to safety.

“I want to be a Hero! Not a damn Pop-Idol! I don’t have a damn Facebook page or Twitter account! I don’t go on Livestreams or post Selfies Mid-Mission to catch likes! I am here to help people! I don’t care about all that Fame-Hunting! I DON’T!” the green-haired boy roared as his right arm morphed into the _**Claw Form**_ to shred the corpse of a parked car to ribbons in a blur of sharp blades.

“LIAR!” Bakugo bellowed as explosions rained all around the two, and even propel himself forward immediately after by generating an explosion behind him and use the extra acceleration to punch Izuku on the face.

Only for the boy to grab the blond’s outstretched arm to pull him along, and once planted both feet on the ground, slamming his (_hardened)_ forehead on Bakugo’s nose once he fell towards him, breaking it in a thick spurt of blood.

“What do you want?! What do you want from me?! Who are you to tell me I can’t be a Hero!?” Izuku yelled while headbutting Bakugo again.

“I WILL BE THE TOP DOG! THE WORLD’S NUMBER ONE!” Bakugo roared back, and using both hands to blast Izuku away hard enough he heard the boy’s ribs snap from under the pressure.

“...”

“YOU GOT IT!? I’LL BE THE STRONGEST!” Bakugo howled.

_Crick! Crick! Crack!_

“Then go and become the strongest! Get to the Number One position! I. DON’T. CARE! I am not here for that!” Izuku answered while regenerating his broken ribs and arm in a chorus of faint cracking noises.

“You regenerate too now?!”

“Always could, that is why nobody knew how much you _experimented _on me.” Izuku answered with a cold tone, making the other flinch minutely.

“I did not talk because I WANT you to become a great Hero, because I know you can be one! You just need to stop being such a jerk!” the green-haired boy declared while tackling Bakugo through a wall on the notes of the blond’s bones whining under the impact.

“What did you call me?!” Bakugo yelled while turning both around so that he could straddle Izuku and plant both gauntlets’ end at Izuku’s face.

“A JERK! A MORON! AN UTTER BASTARD!” the other roared, in what sounded-like being years worth of buried anger, condensed into two _**Muscle Form **_fist slamming on both sides of Bakugo’s head making him howl in agony at his brain getting slammed back and forth inside his skull before one of said fists could land on his mouth shattering most of his teeth.

“Nobody is good enough for you! Everybody is just a damn extra! Guess what!? None of us is a damn extra in your Power Fantasy!”

“SHUT UP!” Bakugo, by now toeing the fine line between _Sanity_ and _Madness_, dropped all pretenses and started using his Quirk full-power, shooting Izuku with a big enough explosion to send him flying.

**Meanwhile – With Himiko - **

“That sounds like years of issues getting resolved through Violence...Of course Boom-Baka should know that should he overdo I will carve his heart out and shove it up his ass while its still beating.” Himiko muttered while nearing Iida’s position.

“...I want to paint him red...Such a lovely colour! No! NO! I am better than this! I won’t relapse! Not now!” for an instant the girl developed a wide, deranged smile before shaking her head wildly and taking a deep breath.

“Okay! I can do this, I can be a Hero, I am not a monster like ‘_Those Two’ _believed. I have a new father and a good friend now, and both believe in me...I can do this.” once recovered her centre, Himiko closed her eyes tight to take a deep breath and recover her self-control.

“Iida-chan is going through a very schematic patrol round, I should be able to use the _holes_ he is leaving behind to sneak through and steal the _bomb_ from him. Hopefully he is not doing that on purpose to bait me...” she muttered with a focused expression, and with another deep breath she _erased her presence_ as much as she could while climbing though a near glass-less window to near Iida from the boy’s blind side.

“Who’s there?! Is that you, Bakugo-san?” Iida asked aloud once heard the faint noise of Himiko’s feet softly tapping the ground.

“Shit...” the girl hissed as she barely managed to dive for cover before the other could see her.

**Back with Izuku - **

“Why you don’t believe me?!” Izuku asked while using the dust raised by the explosion to switch to a more stealthy tactic.

“Because you are a fucking liar!” Bakugo answered while randomly blasting everything in sight in hope to force the other out.

“Was I supposed to remain a _Deku_ forever? To live my life as a loser nobody just to make you feel better?”

“NO, YOU BASTARD!”

“...Uh?”

“You either succeed or fail, there is nothing between! I have to continue winning, otherwise I will remain a useless extra like you others! But I don’t want YOU to be an Extra! But there can only be ONE Top Dog! And that will be me!”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Bakug-”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!”

“...You know what? You win. I won’t talk to you anymore, I won’t look at you anymore. I’ll be just another Extra, another background character for you to ignore. I won’t force my _friendship_ on you, but you won’t force your attitude on me either. Forget I exist.”

“HOY! What’s that crap now?!” Katsuki bellowed, furious beyond comprehension.

“...”

“Don’t you dare giving up on me! I want you to fight me at your best!”

“...”

“ANSWER ME, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”

_BOOOOOM!_

“You won’t play that game with me, Deku! I know you just want to steal the show! You are just like everybody else!” Bakugo yelled with a loud shriek while hurrying through the wreckage of a wall he had just demolished at random.

As soon as he turned the corner, a section of the wall that was still intact detached in the form of a humanoid shape mimicking both color and _texture_ of the wall almost perfectly, luckily Bakugo was too much in a hurry to notice the faint difference between wall and camouflage.

“Okay, he is gone. How are things on your side?” the humanoid wall-thing asked to his radio as the skin returned being normal, showing Izuku down to his boxers.

The young man now understood why James spent years of the kid’s training making him Consume Cuttlefishes and Octopus alive by the dozen, he had doubts _**Blacklight**_ could extract those abilities from living animals, but once questioned the ex-soldier had said it was only a matter of time and effort, since the Virus needed more time than normal when it came to absorb abilities from animals.

“_It’s not exactly easy, since Iida-chan is now scanning every corner after a couple of close-calls, but I am getting there. Do you think you can distract him too?” _Himiko asked.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Izuku answered once recovered his costume from its hiding spot.

“_I need to ask for a way to avoid the need to strip to do this. Maybe a way for my Bio-Mass to cover and _swallow_ the Costume temporarily?_” the green-haired kid thought while stealthily moving towards Iida’s position once dressed.

“_You okay?” _Himiko asked with a concerned tone.

“I will, I just...Gave up on Kacchan, I suppose.”

“_You will bounce back. Ending friendship is always painful, but I know you will pull through, and I will be there for you every step of the way.”_

“Thank you, Himiko.”

“...So you gave up on me?” Bakugo asked from behind Izuku, making the boy pale considerably.

“Was I supposed to always follow you around? Begging for your attention and ignoring abuses and insults? Forever?” he asked.

“That is not the point!” the other yelled, and the tone was _different_ from what the green-haired teen was used to hear.

“...”

“LOOK AT ME!”

“What?” Izuku asked once finally turned around to look at Bakugo.

“Why you didn’t tell me you weren’t a useless Quirkless?”

“I was not aware that I needed a Quirk to be your friend, we used to get along just fine before you manifested yours.”

“Nothing changed between us! You had always been a damn crybaby!”

“So we had never been friends? What was I then to you?”

“...”

“What was I to you!?”

“...An annoyance.” Bakugo muttered, and watching as the other teen developed a broken expression.

“I hope you will find true friends then, Katsuki-san. Sorry for wasting your time back there.” Izuku, once swallowed the tears, turned around to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“I have a bomb to find, you...You do whatever you want, as always.”

“We have a fight to finish!”

“I give up. You win, I lose. That is all that matters to you, yes? You are the strongest one between us and all that stuff.”

“STOP RIGHT THERE AND FIGHT ME! I WON’T LET YOU HAVE A MOMENT OF REST UNTIL YOU FIGHT ME WITH YOUR ALL!”

“Why?! We are not here for that!”

“LIAR! You are just like everybody else! You all just want to surpass me! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL UNTIL I WILL STAND AT THE TOP!” Bakugo yelled.

“NO, YOU MORON! I just want to be a Hero!” Izuku answered.

“LIAR!” the other bellowed in madness while preparing both _blasters_.

“_**Stop! At that setting you’ll kill him!**_” Nezu ordered from the arena’s speakers.

“He won’t die if he dodges!” Bakugo answered with a wild smirk as he readied his gauntlets.

“Then shoot. If to you a Hero destroys everything that dares to face them, then kill me!”

To the blond’s surprise, Izuku did not dodge, but walked head first in front of the gauntlets an instant after the trigger was pulled.

_ **BOOOOOOOM!** _

The explosion was terrifying, a giant blast of fire that pushed slightly back even Bakugo himself, but instead of guilt, the kid had a savage smile on his face.

“YEAH! Straight path to the Top with this baby!” Bakugo yelled in triumph while looking at the immense cloud of dust and smoke in front of him.

“See, nerd! This means I am the greatest!”

“...”

“Hoy! Deku? Where are you?” he asked with a sing-song voice.

“_**Bakugo-san, you caught him fully. We are registering a flat-line from his health monitor.” **_ Eraserhead declared with a void voice.

“...Bullshit. Come out, Nerd! I know you are just a coward that is hiding!”

“...”

“...Nerd?”

“_**Bakugo-san, leave the area. We need to talk.**_” Aizawa hissed with a murderous tone.

**With Nezu - **

“Principal? Have you told the other teachers about young Midoriya’s Quirk?” Toshinori asked.

“...I knew I forgot something.” the rat-man muttered, grimacing.

All Might could just face-palm at that.

**Test Area - **

“BULLSHIT, HE IS NOT DEAD! Come out, Deku! Or I will do the same to your little girlfriend!” Bakugo threatened.

“Himiko..._**No.**_” he heard Izuku’s voice coming from the smoke, each word dripping venom.

“There you are, you Useless Los-” the new insult died in Bakugo’s throat as a single shining red eye surfaced from the smoke.

Then everything faded to black for the Explosion-user, and there was only pain.

**With Iida - **

The last explosion had been so intense to make the entire place tremble, making even Iida stumble a little in his steps while he made his rounds to scout the area around the bomb.

“Bakugo-san! That explosion was too much! Are you trying to kill a fellow student?” he yelled to his radio.

“_Brrrfffzffzfrrzfzrzrrrr!_” Only static noises answered him.

“Bakugo-san?” Iida asked again.

“Too distracted!” it was then that he heard Himiko’s voice from right behind him.

“How did y-_Gueeeeeeeeeeh!_” Iida shrieked in a kinda-hilarious girlish high pitch as Himiko shoved not one, but two knife-shaped tasers on his back and throat, making him fall down paralyzed.

The weapons were literally knives with dull blades and tips and equipped with a trigger near the hand-guard, once pressed, the blade area was designed to be traversed by an intense electric charge, enough to paralyze pretty much everybody; and if that did not work, the metal baseball bat she had on her back could do the same only with extra blunt power, and Mei had even promised an electrified mallet...As soon as Power Loader was distracted enough to not notice the girl creating such electrified, barely-non-lethal sledge hammer.

“That kid is dangerous, you know? How can somebody so violent become a Hero?” Himiko said while using zip ties on both arms and legs of Iida.

“_Glublefeh_-_gah_!” Iida gurgled-out while drooling, still half-paralyzed.

“Sorry about that. Izu-kun? Where are you?” Himiko asked to her radio.

_Bang! Bang! BANG! **BANG!**_

In answer a blur demolished the four walls separating them from where both Izuku and Bakugo were, and whatever that was, it stopped its run on the wall behind Himiko, showing itself as being a human covered in dull-grey armour with various protruding uneven spikes on the back and shoulders, even his face was a smooth dome with only a single red eye in its middle, the green hero costume he was wearing above said armor and stretched to its limits around it made it easier to understand who that was.

“Hi! Izu-kun!” Himiko, utterly unaffected by the scene, happily waved at him.

“**Are you okay? Are you hurt?**” Izuku asked immediately, voice distorted by the helmet of his armor form.

“Uh-hu, not even a scratch! That moron of _Boom-Baka_ actually distracted Iida-chan for me!” she answered, happy to hear he was worried about her.

“_Sowwy_ if I _ashk, _Where _ish_ _Kadsuki-San?_” Iida asked, still slurring a little from Himiko’s tasering him.

“**...Here.**” Izuku answered with a small, ashamed voice while taking a step back and removing the _Shield _and _Armor_ he was wearing to return to normal.

And show to the other two students the unconscious Katsuki deeply embedded into the wall inside the _stamp_ left there by the shield Izuku had held in front of himself while charging him, luckily the green-haired kid had not added spikes on the shield surface itself, but it still looked like Bakugo had been run over by a truck.

“...Ugh!” the blond boy only gave a weak whimper before slumping to the floor, and his landing face-first on the floor also caused the few teeth still on his mouth to fall out as well.

“Oh, boy! Overzealous much, Izu-kun?” Himiko asked.

“S-S-Sorry.”

“Naah! It’s okay, the boom we hard was loud too, so I guess he was not holding back either. Oh, well! His pain, our gain!” she answered while marching towards the _bomb_ to pat it with one hand.

“We win!”

“_**Hero Squad wins. Please vacate the area...And somebody fetch Recovery Girl, please.**_”

“_Ehm_...A-A-And a mop.” Izuku muttered with a red face.

“_**And a mop, Bakugo peed himself. Not that I blame him.” **_Aizawa added with a sigh of dismay.

“I will free you, Iida-san.” Izuku said while cutting away the zip ties.

“Thank you. But was it really necessary to hurt him that much?”

“Had I been anybody else, I would have been dead. I barely had enough Bio-mass to recover from that, he blasted open my chest and I had to regenerate organs and spine.” Izuku explained with a defeated expression.

And as the other two looked at him better, Izuku’s body indeed looked malnourished, pale and _drained_, meaning that he had been forced to use a lot of his body mass to _resurrect_ and heal from his wounds.

“...Had he always been that violent?” Iida asked after a long, worried silence while watching medics recover Bakugo to bring him to the infirmary.

“Not really, but he had grown every day worse ever since he discovered his Quirk. I don’t know how we got to this point, but I am afraid.”

“Uh?”

“He sees an enemy in everybody, I understood he doesn’t want me as a friend, and I will take distance like he wishes...But I still worry about him, nobody should be _constantly_ angry. He can’t see enemies or ‘_extras’_ everywhere. That’s...That’s almost what a sociopath is.” Izuku muttered with downcast eyes.

“Unfortunately it is not up to you, you can’t take on yourself the mission to help him, especially if he doesn’t want help. Let his parents and the teachers talk to him, it is not your job.” Iida said while grabbing the boy’s shoulder in a strong grip.

“Then why do I feel responsible?” Izuku asked.

“Because you are a good friend, and maybe a bit of a worrywart.” Himiko said while grabbing his hand.

“I am?”

“Maybe a bit, Midoriya-kun. Come, let’s leave the others have their test too. If you want, we can talk a bit more.” Iida answered with a small smile as the three waked out.

“I don’t want to impose.” Izuku muttered, shyly.

“No imposition. This is what friends are for.”

“F-F-Friends?”

“I thought we were already, was I mistaken?” Iida asked.

“No-NO! I would be honoured!” Izuku said with wide eyes.

“Nice to hear, because the feeling happens to be mutual!”

“Let’s go eat something, Izu-kun! You need to replenish those Bio-Mass reserves!”

“I am not really that hung-”

_Groooooooooooooooh!_

The Green-haired kid almost died on the spot in shame as a LOUD growl came from his stomach.

“Sorry, Midoriya-kun, but that sound just confirmed that a visit to the cafeteria may be for the best.” Iida countered, chuckling amicably at the boy’s ashamed expression.

**One Hour later – Infirmary - **

Toshinori looked in apprehension as Recovery Girl finished her round of check-ups on whoever got hurt during the _Battle Trial_, because even if everything happened in a controlled environment, incidents did happen.

He caught the old woman’s attention and cleared his throat while looking at the _Mummy_ that was Bakugo’s unconscious body.

“So...” he tried saying.

“How bad is the kid?” Recovery Girl said with a knowing tone and half-lidded eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Nothing too serious. Just broken arms, broken legs, collapsed rib-cage, three-fourths of his teeth gone, a concussion, two black eyes and probably a slightly damaged pelvis nerve. But it happens when you get slammed through four walls and almost through a fifth by a speeding human-shaped tank.” the healer listed in sarcasm.

“...”

“It’s a miracle there was no internal bleeding. From what I was told by James, young Midoriya actually held back quite a lot and just let the walls do the dirty work for him.”

“_Ow._ But what does the last one mean? That _Pelvis Nerve_ and stuff?” Toshinori asked, wincing, while looking at the still unconscious Bakugo.

“Nothing much, just a couple weeks of _erectile __dysfunctions,_ a month at worst, nothing some specialized medicines and ointments won’t fix.”

“...I am not really good with medical jargon.” All Might admitted.

_Sigh!_ “His little soldier won’t march, Toshinori.” Recovery Girl said, rolling her eyes.

“Uh?”

“...His Noodle will stay floppy.”

“I-I don’t get it.”

“Yagi! His little _All Might _can’t go _Plus Ultra!_”

“His what?” Toshinori asked, utterly confused.

“_**HIS CO#K** **CAN’T GET HARD NO MATTER WHAT!**_” Recovery Girl bellowed in fury while slamming down her syringe-shaped walking stick.

The sheer volume of her voice not only made All Might topple over even in his muscled form, but also made sure _**EVERYBODY**_ from AU heard of Bakugo’s new little _problem_, and even if somebody somehow missed the news, the gossip mongers between teachers and students will be more than happy to report the new juicy update to whoever was open to listen.

“...Oh...Now I get it!” Toshinori said, still with ringing years.

“Yes, and since YOU were the moron that insisted in putting those two together in the test as an utterly stupid plan to make them drop the hostility, YOU will be the one telling young Katsuki that for him ‘_No Nut November’_ will start sooner!” the old lady added before walking away.

“And you can’t...”

“HOW DARE YOU ASK ME, AN INNOCENT MAIDEN, TO KISS A BOY _**THERE!**_ PERVERT!” the healing hero answered before marching out of the room in great fury.

“I-I-I am not a pervert.” Yagi muttered with a weak voice.

**The next Day – UA High School Infirmary - **

When Bakugo finally woke-up, he found a tablet propped on his bandaged chest, and Aizawa himself sitting next to him with a scowl on his face.

“Good morning, finally awake.”

“_Uuungh!_” Bakugo tried saying, but his wired mouth turned everything into a muffed groan.

“I am here to tell you that you will be taking part to anger managing classes,”

“_Uh?!_”

“There is no option, you WILL go there.” Eraserhead answered while turning-on the tablet,

“And this video is why we are telling you you will take those classes. See? This is the part where the kid’s torso gets blasted open and his organs turned to half-burned sludge.” the teacher said reproducing the closing part of Bakugo’s Battle Trial, an extract of the exact moment his final attack pretty much _killed_ Izuku, in high definition slow-motion that made the blond’s stomach churn.

“Do not look away, enjoy the fruits of your work. See this?...This little thing flying off is the kid’s liver, those white fragments are the ribs, and that is his intestines getting shredded and THEN burned.” Aizawa explained, pausing the video and pointing at the blasted pieces of flesh between the giant splash of blood from Izuku’s blasted chest.

The Quirk may have meant that the kid did not truly _needed_ those body parts, but the image was still utterly gruesome.

“_Guh!_” Bakugo felt something awful-tasting and acidic travel upward his throat, but the tight bandages on his mouth and face made it impossible for him to spit everything out, forcing him to painfully swallow everything back.

“You are damn lucky the boy has insane Healing Abilities...As you can see here, while you gloated, he slowly rebuilt his body enough to stand and take you for a ride through walls. Do you understand how lucky you were? Any other human would have been dead, you would have killed them on the spot.” Aizawa explained with a cold voice.

On his part Bakugo just closed his eyes as tight as he could.

“You can close your eyes all you want, but that won’t erase your mistakes. Had him died, you would have been hauled to Prison without much fanfare since you purposely blasted him full power, we are investigating why your gauntlets were that powerful, but as far as I am concerned, you got it easy by just getting some mandatory anger classes, something that the Principal had already planned for, the only difference is that NOW you have no choice but taking them.” the teacher said, before leaning closer to the blond.

“You killed a student, Katsuki-san, regeneration or not, for a minute he was dead...Let that sink in and ask yourself: is my quest to be the absolute _Number One_ worth getting my hands dirty in blood of friends and enemies?” Aizawa whispered before walking away.

“Reflect on what happened while you are here, that Midoriya boy may not want to press charges or even ask for compensation for repairing his Costume, but we teachers won’t forget what happened to one of the kids under our care, and neither should you. There may not be an Immortal kid in front of you the next time you lose control...Then you will have to explain to a mother why her kid deserved such a brutal death for annoying you.”

_Slam!_

When the door to the infirmary went slammed shut, Katsuki simply clamped his eyes shut and stood in silence, unfortunately his brain saw necessary to replay over and over the detailed video of him killing somebody.

**At the same time - Rumi’s Penthouse - **

Unaware of all that happening, Rumi had just finished watching the recording of Izuku’s Battle Trial, comprised the scene of his apparent _death_ and regeneration, leaving the Bunny Hero looking at the screen in slight interest as soon as the final _Shield Rush_ was over.

“Yo! _Melodia!_” Rumi said to her phone while rewinding a couple scenes to watch them at slow-motion.

“_Yes?” _Maria Sakamoto (_Nee Gastaldi_), former Italian Pro-Hero known as _**Melodia D’Amore**_, and now freelance _Promoter/Image-Manager_ for whatever Pro Hero eager to pay her exorbitant fees, asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

“Just watched the DVD.”

“_Yes? And?_”

“I think I can work with what I am seeing, very rough around the edges and zero finesse, but I love the brutal power! Should have used his legs more, though.”

“_I am pretty sure you can teach him the awesomeness of leg power...IF you take him in.” _the Promoter answered, chuckling.

“True enough. Do you have more material about him? I still saw too little to decide.” Rumi wondered, rewinding the video to see the _**Claws**_ and _**Muscle Mass**_ powers in action frame-by-frame.

“_I can try have some videos of him mid-training in UA’s Gym_.”

“How?! They don’t let cameras in!”

“_I have my ways. Are you interested?”_

“Yeah, yeah. Send more stuff, so I can see if he is worth the time.”

“_Is he cute enough at least?_” the woman asked, her smirk so evident Rumi could almost _feel it_ through the phone call.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“_I’ll take that as a _Yes_ then. I’ll see what I can gather.”_

“_..._Hey.”

“_Yes?”_ she asked, unsure by the strange low and dangerous tone the Bunny Hero had just used.

“I know how money-hungry you can be...I am the only one you are showing off this kid to, isn’t it?” Rumi asked.

“_Don’t worry, dear. You are having an exclusive preview._” Maria answered.

“You better.”

“_You can trust me, Rumi._” the Promoter answered before closing the call.

**At the same time – _Sakamoto & Sakamoto Promoting Agency – Maria’s Office - _**

The same video of Izuku’s _**Battle Trial**_ was being plaid on the woman’s desktop while a secondary monitor had been neatly separated in sections, each one with a tiny window dedicated to a one-on-one chat between her and other clients.

> _**Chat 1 - Fat Gum:** “Let’s say that I am interested in the kid...How much for more material?_”
> 
> _**Chat 2 – Mountain Lady: **“Okay, I am fairly impressed. And you say that I can also get more “_Points” _by adding him to my Livestreams than only partnering with Kamui?”_
> 
> _**Chat 3 – Ryukyu: **“Very unrefined, but a good diamond all the same. Can you send me more details?”_
> 
> _**Chat 4 – Endeavor:** “I am still not convinced. Send me more videos and I will consider it. And make it snappy, I have no time to waste if the brat is a weakling.”_
> 
> _**Chat 5 – Kamui Woods: **“He looks promising, but don’t tell Mt. Lady I saw this, last thing I need is her getting jealous. I’ll think about your offer.”_
> 
> _**Chat 6 – Edgeshot:** “That whip Power is similar to mine, he turned his arm into a thin string of flesh to attack his enemy...Send me more videos, I am interested.”_
> 
> _**Chat 7 – Gang Orca: **“Unrefined! Unpolished! Just raw power with no direction whatsoever! A dumb animal destroying everything with no brain or strategy! Send more info, I want him.”_

“Sorry, Rumi.” Maria muttered with a sigh as she saw those messages pile-up from other Heroes she had given ‘**_Exclusive Preview’ _**of the same video.

“Business is business...I just wish to understand what Nezu-san is planning. Not everybody is as good as him at 4D chess.” the woman’s defeated expression grew deeper the more she thought about what the UA Principal may be planning by letting her _leak_ that video to few Pro Heroes of his choosing.

_Ding!_

“Uh? A new update..._**The Changeling Hero: Darwin.**_ He choose quite the nice name too. Aaaand that too will be sent to those customers. I REALLY hope you know what you are doing, Nezu-kun.” the Promoter muttered while sharing Izuku’s _Hero Name_ with the 8 Pro Heroes she was secretly sending info to.

**At the same time – Secret Location - **

“So the _**Blacklight**_ _**Virus **_surfaced again...James Heller is still alive.”

“So it seems, Leader.”

“Alert the League that I want the boy to be put under close watch, keep me constantly informed, Kurogiri.”

“It shall be done, Leader.”

  
  


  
  



	6. Fear.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are dark clouds coming from the horizon, and while Nezu prepares for the incoming storm, Izuku finally opens-up enough with his new friends to admit one of his many secrets: his fear for the Blacklight Virus inside of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may sound a bit strange this one for a chapter, but I felt I needed this to introduce what will happen in the USJ Raid in the next chapter, this is merely build-up for the bigger "Reveals" that will come. IF I pulled this off properly.

**Pairing: Deku/ Ochako Uraraka/ Himiko Toga.**

**UA High School – Corridors - a Week after the Battle Trial - **

Bakugo had finally returned to full health and was permitted to return to attend classes like normal, and he was now traversing the corridors towards class A1, although he had plans more about somebody in there than for the lessons themselves.

“_Yeah, the kid from class 1A._”

“Uh?” Bakugo uttered, stopping mid-step to listen.

“_The guy that hangs with Togata?”_

“_Yeah, that one! Since when the Big 3 are chummy with a first year?_”

“The fuck are they talking about?” the violent punk muttered as he stealthily neared the two second years talking by the bathroom doors.

“I heard because All Might took interest in him as well.” student 1 answered.

“That and the fact he is Immortal.” student 2 added.

“Wha?”

“That’s what I heard! I have a young cousin that took the entrance exam, he said he saw that boy get squished like a bug by a car thrown by that rampaging robot…”

“Squished?”

“Totaled! He even lost an arm, not just, you know, cut with a blade, but torn-off from something heavy! His body, he said, was completely destroyed! Even the brain was visible...And he healed, just like that!”

“Bullshit! I have a friend with a regeneration Quirk, and SHE took a week to regrow a finger after an incident with some fireworks. She explained to me: even regeneration Quirks have limits, if you cut their heads off, they die.”

“Everything dies if you chop their head off, dude.”

“That’s beside the point! Nobody is immortal.”

“Then how do you describe it when somebody can regrow every organ?” that comment made Bakugo flinch.

“Wha?”

“I heard it from one of Recovery Girl’s patients, she was in the bed right next to some guy, apparently he blew that kid up, straight killed him!”

“And they expelled him?”

“No! That’s the absurd thing! Since the victim ‘_resurrected’_ and did not press charge, they did nothing.”

“Okay, that’s messed-up! You can’t let a killer in school, and neither an immortal freak.”

“Yeah, both are bad.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

_ **BANG!** _

It was hard to say if it was the ‘_Killer’_ or the ‘_Freak’_ remark that pissed Bakugo off, the fact remains that the blond blasted both morons straight through the bathroom doors right before marching towards his classroom with heavy steps.

**Class 1A - **

“That sounded like Bakugo.” Izuku said, sighing.

“So boom-baka is coming back?” Himiko answered, sighing.

“So it seems, Toga-san.” Iida answered.

“Would it kill you to call me, Toga-chan? I thought we were friends.” she countered with a huff.

“_Kero._ It’s a losing battle, Himi-chan! He and Midori-chan can’t call me _Tsuyu-Tan_ either.” Tsuyu answered with an annoyed croak.

“We just don’t want to annoy you!” both Iida and Izuku answered as one in perfect sync.

“Use the damn nicknames instead!” Himiko ordered.

“...Himiko-chan.” Izuku muttered, face completely red.

“Toga-chan.” Iida added, just as embarrassed.

“_Kero!”_

“T-Tsuyu-tan.” both chorused.

“Good boys.” the frog girl answered, smiling pleased.

“Do we have to fear the worst?” Ochako asked, looking at the door in dread.

“I know he means well, he just has a very bad attitude,” Izuku answered, sighing.

“He is violent, Izu-chan.” Himiko answered.

“I think we can befriend him instead.” Kirishima declared with a wide smirk.

“It will take some work, but I too believe it is feasible.” Sero added.

“If they permitted him to stay, it means the school knows he can actually be a Hero.” Momo said.

“As long as he doesn’t get in the way.” Todoroki answered with an uncaring shrug.

_SLAM!_

“DEKU!” Bakugo hadn’t even finished slamming the door open that he was already screaming Izuku’s nickname.

“Yes?” the boy asked back, and behind him Iida eyed in worry the glint of a knife he saw peak from the back of Himiko’s uniform as soon as she moved to grab it.

In answer Bakugo lifted Izuku’s shirt, flashing the entire class the boy’s surprisingly well-developed chest.

“Are those abs?!” Mineta asked with bulged-out eyes.

“He did mention ‘_perfected biology’_ as an added effect of his Quirk.” Tokoyami answered, shrugging.

“YAOI! YAOI! YAOI!” Toru squealed immediately.

“_Kero!_ Please calm down the hormones.”

“B-B-Bakugo!” Izuku in the meantime forcefully pulled back down his uniform and took a step back while blushing crimson.

“You don’t have scars.” Bakugo said with a low voice.

“I never get those and-_Kyah!_” the other tried saying, before shrieking as the punk grabbed his chin to move his face around.

“KISS! KISS! KISS HIM, GODDAMNIT!”

“TORU!” Momo yelled while glaring at the invisible girl.

“How?” Bakugo asked.

“How what?” Izuku answered.

“I saw the video, I saw you...Explode and die.” Bakugo answered, sounding strangely unwilling to talk about his death.

“I got better,”

“You shouldn’t have.”

“You...You wanted me dead?” Izuku asked, hurt, and now Iida and Ochako HAD TO restrain Himiko before she could assault Bakugo.

“No! You...I-It’s not normal!”

“It’s my Quirk!”

“YOU DON’T HAVE A QUIRK! YOU ARE A QUIRKLESS!”

_Sling!_

“Then what’s this?” Izuku asked while showing the _Claws _power.

“I don’t know, but it’s not a Quirk.” Bakugo answered, stubbornly sticking to his point.

“Why? Why it’s so important for you that I am a Quirkless?”

“Because you can’t have one!”

“Why?”

“BECAUSE I HAVE TO BE THE HERO BETWEEN US!” Bakugo snapped angrily, then noticing what he said and turning absurdly pale.

“...What?”

“Forget it.” Bakugo answered with a small voice to then drop on his seat at his desk and glare at whoever tried to talk to him.

“Are you okay?!” Himiko asked once finally broke free of Ochako and Iida’s hold on her to check every inch of Izuku’s body.

“I-I am okay! I swear, nothing bad happened,” he answered.

“But it could have. Remember, I can’t do this without you, you have to stick to my side always. We’ll be Heroes together,” Himiko answered while adjusting his clothes and the tie of his uniform.

“Of course, I will be careful and always be there if you need me,” Izuku answered with a small smile.

“Good.” she answered, smiling wide herself.

“Same for all of you,” he then added while looking at Iida and Ochako.

“S-Same here!” Ochako answered with an embarrassed thumbs-up.

“You all can count on me as well!” Iida said while comically chopping around with his arms, as always when he was embarrassed.

“Good to see you all being in such a good mood. Then maybe today I won’t regret getting out of the bed.” Aizawa declared with a tired voice while entering the class.

“Y-Yes?” Izuku muttered as he saw the man look at him intensely enough it seemed he was trying to give him a full-body scan.

“Uh? Nothing, nothing. Get seated, everybody. Today we’ll move to the next chapter, so listen well because it will be new stuff,” Aizawa answered before turning towards the chalkboard, only half his brain focusing on the current lesson.

The other half was focused more on the faculty meeting they all had that morning in Nezu’s office, before lessons started.

**Earlier that day - **

Every Teacher, old and new, of UA High School had just took their seat in front of Nezu’s gargantuan desk, that many secretly thought was a childish attempt at _compensating_ for the Animal-chimera’s non-threatening height.

“Good to see things run smoothly as always. Now, to finish this meeting in a pleasant way...Some Tea?” Nezu had, uncharacteristically for such a meeting, fished-out a plain-looking tea set as soon as the meeting had reached its closing, an action that sent the more paranoid teachers on high alert.

“Thank you?” Ectoplasm answered, unsure, while accepting her own cup.

“...This is _Gold Imperial…_” Aizawa muttered with a strained voice as soon as he tried it, and just like him, every other teacher immediately went into full-panic.

“Oh! You recognized it? I am glad!” Nezu answered with a chilling smile.

“We all recognized it…” Present Mic said, dryly, as if the meaning behind that choice of tea held a dark omen.

“You don’t like it?” the rat-man asked, sounding just as innocent as a butcher looked to a lamb.

“You usually offer _Oolong_, or _Earl Grey_ when you feel generous enough to share…” Midnight answered, tensing on her chair as if ready to bolt out of the room at the moment’s notice.

“But you take out the _Gold Imperial_ when you are planning something,” Power Loader added, he instead was eyeing the window and clearly calculating survival chances for his jump.

“The windows are missile-proof. And the door’s locked.” Nezu said, his smile growing even more malicious.

“Fuck!” both Pro Heroes cursed under their breath.

“Language,” Recovery Girl chided them, she was the only one there to be utterly calm and relaxed.

“I’ll take him! You others run while I distract him!” Gunhead yelled as he jumped to his feet.

“I’ll help you! Mic, you and Power Loader take down the door!” Aizawa added while unfolding his scarf.

“If you have quite done acting as if I was Satan,” Nezu, uncaring of the chaos, asked while purposely drinking his tea with LOUD slurping noises.

“You are worse, at least Satan does offer something in exchange if he asks something,” Midnight answered while still shamelessly picking on the door’s lock with a hairpin.

“I just want to talk,” Nezu answered, now showing some very faint traces of offense at the remark.

“Give them time, dear.” Recovery Girl said with a comforting smile.

“Talk? About what?” Ectoplasm asked with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing serious, just a remark about how one of our first years is not a Quirked, but rather the holder of powers coming from his being completely made out of a _**Super-Adaptive, Self-Evolving, Almost Indestructible and Unstable**_ Virus Bio-Weapon that can hypothetically eradicate the entire human race should it go out of control.” Nezu answered, tone calm and collected, like his answer was common occurrence.

“That’s it! I am out!” Mic answered first as he tried to _scream the door down_.

“Mic, cut it out!” Midnight yelled.

“...Sorry.”

“Relax! The boy has the thing under control! The guy training him is one of the guys that got infested the first time and killed the terrorist responsible of the Virus first release that almost turned America into a wasteland devoid of life.” Nezu answered with a placating, and yet amused, tone.

“When did that happen?! I never heard of that!”

“When?...A couple years before Quirks appeared...Early 2000s,” Recovery Girl answered.

“How can somebody be still alive to teach a kid then?” Midnight asked, confused.

“...It’s the kid that got exploded and resurrected, isn’t it?” Aizawa asked with narrowed eyes.

“Him indeed! What ticked you off?” Nezu answered, pleased.

“That level of Regeneration is unheard off, at least in somebody with a Quirk giving them a _solid_ body instead of a gas-like or semi-liquid one. And even then, once lost body mass that doesn’t return...he _regrew_ organs that had been incinerated instead.”

“The boy has inside what we may call ‘_Quirk__s__ 1.0’, _the first version of what will years later become the Mutation generating Quirks as we know them. I got plans that need the boy’s secret to remain as such for a little while still, and I need your help.” Nezu explained.

“What kind of plans? We are still talking about a kid,” Power Loader asked, neither him or the others liking what the Principal was implying.

“Nothing Villainous, relax. I just need him as a _Bait_ of sort...And if things go as planned I will be able to pay him back one-hundred-fold once the dust settles. But in order for this to work, I need no Prime Minister breathing on our neck to relinquish the boy to them to either force him to join the JSDF as a weapon or get killed because considered a National Threat.

Or worse, forced to spend the rest of his life as a lab rat.” the last part was just a cold, low muttering that managed to freeze the teachers’ blood solid from its malice alone.

“Bait?”

“All for One is alive, we all know it. Cockroaches like him are hard to kill, he is somewhere out there to plan, and I hope he will be stupid enough to try something to get his hands on that Virus, because the moment he tries, we’ll be there to catch him,”

“And it will work?” Ectoplasm asked.

“That thing is a man-made Superpower able to rival Quirks, that fool will like the idea too much to not find it attractive,” Recovery Girl answered.

“You know something as well, don’t you?”

“Pretty much everything that there is to know.” she answered.

“And I just so happened to have several copies of highly-confidential information our government helped hiding years ago since they were part of the ‘_Elite’_ group of chosen that hoped to use that same Virus to live forever, I just _casually_ hacked into their mainframes and _mistakenly_ made several copies of them to give it to you along copies of what Mister Heller (_The guy training Midoriya-san in using his Powers_) gave us...I can’t believe I mis-clicked my mailbox and erroneously stolen and erased _**Top-Secret**_ Government Data from secret servers nobody was supposed to know about...How silly of me,” Nezu said, not even trying to hide his smirk.

He knew few soldiers in some secret Japanese base had just been summarily shot for the disappearance of those and many other similar irreplaceable _one-copy-only_ data folders from their servers he pillaged, but since they were the same guys that used to experiment on him, well, he honestly didn’t care.

“Will we get arrested if they know we have these?” Gunhead asked while he and every other teacher accepted their own folder containing the copies of what Nezu stole.

“Oh, nonono!...They will immediately shot you and say it was a Villain attack. They are trying to cover an old moment of shame, a Trial would get too much attention.” Nezu answered with an amiable chuckle.

“So..._Memorize and destroy_?” Aizawa asked with a faint voice.

“Yes.”

“O-Okay,”

“Relax! It’s better doing this than letting some _White Collar_ buffoon know and get some Moron Politician muck everything just because they got _Greedy_. Even if I believe Heller-san would be more than eager to kill every member of Japan’s government so to hopefully get new ones in there that will have more common sense, but even I don’t trust the odds of that happening,” the Rat-Man said.

“Just let them read, Nezu. There will be more than enough there for them to get onboard with your little project.” Recovery Girl answered, watching every teacher stand in silence with their nose deep in the folder in their hands.

“I hope so. If you have questions, there are several _Pie Charts_ on the back of the last page detailing in simpler terms what you need to know about the _**Blacklight Virus **_and its powers.”

Honestly speaking, the full-scope of what Nezu was asking them to help along was so mind-numbing insane many wondered if it wouldn’t have been easier chasing other careers when they were younger.

**Later that day – Art Class with Midnight - **

“As you can see, the emergence of Quirks influenced the artistic production of the late 2060s. Suddenly ‘_Abstract Art’ _became _Normal_ as real people started having extra arms or legs, or electric-blue skin or other features detaching from the concept of normalcy society held until that moment.” Nemuri explained as the projector showed side-by-side two famous paintings: The _Mona Lisa_ on the left and a portrait of a woman with goat horns on the right.

“Like in this case, one is a legendary painting of the Pre-Quirk Era, the other one of the first of the _Post-Quirk Era_, affectionately called ‘_The Modern Lisa’_ in honor of DaVinci’s work, even painted in the same style. What does this tells you?” she asked.

“That human society evolved alongside Quirks?” Momo offered.

“That is a way to describe it, yes, but it’s also a lesson in how ‘_Normal’ _and ‘_Beautiful’_ are a product of our society. WE, as a whole, unanimously decide what is normal and what isn’t, based on our life experiences...Midoriya? Can you show the class those finger blades of yours?” Nemuri asked.

“T-T-The _Claws_, sensei?” the boy asked while getting up.

“Yes, please.”

_Sling!_

“Good, keep them out please. Ashido? Get up please.” the teacher then asked.

“O-Okay!” Mina said, doing as asked.

“Asui? Up and tongue out!”

“_Ribbit! _Okay, Sensei.” the frog girl said, getting up and fully unfolding her _long_ tongue.

“Good. You others, what do you see?” Nemuri asked.

“...Our classmates?” Kaminari asked, unsure.

“Look deeper,” she answered, rolling her eyes.

“Quirks?” Ochako asked.

“Almost there,”

“They are anomalies, in the ‘_Human sense’_ of things. Like many of us, they would have been considered freaks a long time ago.” Mezo said while showing his extra arms.

“Precisely! In the Pre-Quirk era, a painting of them would have been declared ‘_Impressionism’_, an alteration of normal human appearances created for the sole purpose of drawing something ‘_alien’_. And had they walked the streets of early 2000, I assure you very few people would have been happy. They would have gained looks of pity, or disgust or even caused mass hysteria.”

“Them? But they are the nicest guys I know!” Kirishima said, confused.

“T-Thank you,” Izuku muttered with a red face, looking just as sheepish as Mina and Tsuyu were.

“Yes, because now they are ‘_Normal’_ and their oddities are just part of the norm you see everyday, you can see what’s beyond and see the real them.

And this reconnects to what will be your homework: I want you all to write a small essay divided in two parts: one from the point of view of a Pre-Quirk Era Artist and half from the point of view of a Post-Quirk Era Artist.

Describe yourself, or a friend or a Pro Hero you admire while using, or guessing, the point of view of the two Artists in question.

In our next lesson I will then help you use that essay to create a drawing of the same subject in those two styles you described, do this properly and you will hopefully learn that in the end, everything is normal if you have an open mind.” Nemuri explained, just as the bell for the end of the lesson rang.

“Good, you are free to go and remember, I won’t accept half-assed works, I’ll punish you otherwise!” the teacher said with a feral smile that made the entire class pale a little.

“...Midoriya?”

“Y-Yes?”

“You can transform your hands back to normal, silly,” the woman said, chuckling.

“A-AH! S-Sorry!” the boy said, turning the huge spiked arms back to normal.

“It’s okay. Remember, your Quirk does not make you any stranger than everybody else, ‘kay? Do not fear it.” she said with a wink.

“Y-Y-Yes, sensei!” blushing crimson at the gesture, the boy hurried away to join Himiko, Iida and Ochako that were waiting for him in the corridors.

_Sigh!_ “Hard to believe that such a shy little thing is that dangerous. Good thing he is not an egocentric moron, those powers could not get to a nicer kid,” the woman sighed in dismay.

**With Izuku - **

“Why sensei told you to not fear your Quirk?” Ochako asked, curious.

“C-Can you keep a secret?” Izuku asked with a low voice.

“Of course!” she answered immediately.

“Whatever is that is bothering you, you can tell me, Midoriya-kun.” Iida added.

“Thank you...T-Tokoyami-san?” Izuku answered.

“Yes? And why so formal?” the birdman answered, unsure.

“D-Didn’t want to assume,”

“No need to worry. You need assistance?” he replied, waving him off.

“P-Pretty much...Can you others come with me for a second? It will take a minute.”

“Lead the way, as long as we won’t miss lunch.”

“Thank you,” the young man answered, grateful as he took the guys to an empty classroom, unaware that Bakugo was tailing him in secret.

“_What are you up to, nerd?_” the blond thought with narrowed eyes as she stealthily got near the classroom’s door enough to eavesdrop.

**Inside the Empty room - **

“So? What’s wrong?” Ochako asked as soon as they got in.

“It’s a big deal, Ochako-chan. You others REALLY need to keep it a secret.” Himiko answered, sitting on the same desk Izuku was sitting on and grabbing his hand as a show of support.

“We won’t talk, promise.” Tokoyami assured her.

“Go on, Midoriya-kun. What’s wrong?” Iida asked.

“My Quirk...My Quirk is _Alive_. Sort of…” Izuku admitted, sighing.

“Alive?” Ochako asked.

“...Like _Dark Shadow._” Tokoyami said, and as on cue the shadowy creature in him peaked out from behind him.

“Y-Yes. Does yours act independently?” Izuku asked.

“More or less, he tends to go berserk if there are too many shadows around, otherwise I can control him.” the birdman answered.

The chuckle they heard from Izuku was not happy in the slightest.

“Good for you...I have to hold mine back instead. It’s always _Hungry_, _all the time._” Izuku admitted with dull eyes.

“Hungry how? Please elaborate.” Iida asked, immediately catching the dread in his friend’s voice.

“Hungry, hungry. My V...My Quirk’s name is not _Metamorph._ It’s _Consume_. Everything biological can be eaten and absorbed...I-I-I fear human flesh too. I can feel it wriggle under my skin constantly, everything I touch makes my _cravings_ spike. Do you know how it feels to have a small voice in the back of your head listing you all the way you can kill and Consume EVERYTHING around you, constantly? My Quirk scares me...It's Alive, and wants to keep me Alive by any means necessary as everything I eat Heals me.” Izuku admitted, looking down in shame.

_Sigh!_ “Just like me, his Quirk would be top of the list under the ‘_**Villain’**_ labeling. You still had no occasion to fully see mine, but if I drink somebody’s blood I can turn into a perfect replica of them, even briefly copying their Quirk if I really want to ‘_**BE’**_ them. The downside you did not know about is that I have continuous cravings for blood...And personality disorders with episodes of violence since I literally become somebody else for a brief moment and my brain risks short-circuiting when I revert back. That is why the Principal signed us for the _Buddy Program_, as for now he is the only Hero that can work safely with me, and me with him. That’s why the teachers sometimes remind him and me to not fear our Gift.” Himiko added.

“How do you do it, Tokoyami? How do you control Dark Shadow?” Izuku asked.

“Eeeh…” the birdman exhaled, scratching the back of his neck.

“Is not about control, Izuku. It’s about trust,” he answered.

“Uhu?”

“Your Quirk has a minimum quantity of Sentience, right? It has basic thoughts and instincts, one of which is keeping you alive, as I was told you are kind of accident-prone.”

“That would be an understatement. Midoriya-kun, you should also learn some self preservation,” Iida answered.

“Your Quirk is not your enemy, it’s not there to ruin you. It wants to keep you alive and safe, as you said, and you described it as hyper-adaptive, yes? Changing itself and you the moment you need it the most, isn’t it? Never to hinder, but to help.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Those are the marks of a ‘_friend’_ not an ‘_enemy’._ It sees everything as food, and that is also normal because at the end of the day, _Food _and _People_ are made of the same proteins and other components, it’s up to you to teach him what is and isn’t _Food_.

You should not immediately curse your Quirk for mixing them up, see it as a child still learning. Trust your Quirk and you’ll see you won’t need to ‘_control it’_, you two will just work together as a Team.” Tokoyami explained, and _Dark Shadow_ behind him seemed to preen a little in pride at his words.

“You and Himiko are not alone, we are all here to learn to use our Quirks to be Heroes, and if you are here to begin with, it means that the Principal and the other teachers KNOW you can use your powers to help others,” Ochako said, grabbing both Izuku and Himiko’s hands in hers, making them chuckle at her keeping both pinkies up to not make them float.

“Powers like yours can easily be used for Villainy, but so is mine, or Uraraka-san or Tokoyami-san. It is not the Power in itself to be Evil or Monstrous, it’s how we use it that determines who we are. And I can only see two great Heroes ready to bloom when I look at you both.” Iida added, smiling proud.

To the other’s shock, Izuku broke into a relieved crying fit, prompting Himiko to hug him tightly and both Tokoyami and Iida to awkwardly pat his shoulders, too used to keep their emotions straight to know how to deal with somebody expressing them in a more overt manner.

“It’s okay, you two are between friends, nobody will think you are a monster, promise.” Ochako said.

Outside the classroom Bakugo stood in silence, a blank expression on his face as he recalled all the times he had called him _useless_, and wondering if FEAR had been what held Izuku back from admitting of having a Quirk.

“Were you afraid of me...Izuku?” Bakugo muttered to himself, feeling a slight pang in his chest all of a sudden.

“Considering your attitude, it wouldn’t surprise me.” a voice said from behind him, making him jump.

“Y-You!”

“So he hates his own Quirk...We do have more in common than what I thought, Midoriya becomes more interesting the more time passes,” Shoto Todoroki admitted, looking at the door with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s it to you, _Half-n’-half?!_” Bakugo demanded, and his roar alerted the group inside the room he was out there.

“Nothing of your business, Katsuki-san.” Shoto answered while walking away.

“We have not finished talking, Bastard!”

“Katsuki-san?” Izuku asked while peaking outside from the classroom.

“J-Just go have lunch, Nerd! And mind your own fucking business!” Bakugo answered as he too marched away.

“Rude attitude aside, he is right, lunch break is almost over. Let’s go, there is a quiet place in the school grounds isolated enough for us to talk, we won’t be disturbed there.” Tokoyami said, gently leading Izuku away by the arm and followed by the others.

Unseen by them, Katsuki watched the group walk away to help both Izuku and Himiko, and had one looked weel, they would find a strange light in the blond boy’s eyes before he hurried away.

**Meanwhile – Secret Location - **

“Is everything ready?”

“Hohohoho! Yes! Our little _**Anti-All-Might**_ weapon is ready for deployment! Just waiting for you to give the order, Sir!”

“Good job, doctor. Kurogiri!”

“Yes, Master?”

“Contact our spy, we need the exact date for their visit to the USJ. I want our little _Nomu_ to have plenty of kids to play with, I want All Might broken in mind and spirit!”

“It will be done, Master.”

“The others are ready as well, even our new recruit is eager to take part to the raid. What about the Blacklight brat?”

“Just monitor how he acts, it’s still too soon for his role in our plans, we need him to mature just a bit more.”

“Of course sir.”

Once again, in the dimly-lit lab, a round of deranged laughter echoed ominously, making the various monstrous creatures sleeping inside their tubes stir a little in reflex.

**At the same time – Nezu’s office - **

The Rat-man sat alone at his desk while drinking yet another cup of tea, as always his _dependency_ on the drink flared-up in tandem with his latest plan; next to the cup there were the papers necessary to take class 1A to the _Unforeseen Simulation Joint_ that was planned to happen soon.

“_Sir?_” Nezu’s secretary said from the intercom.

“Yes?”

“_The __**Spy**__ has been contacted, everything is going according to the scenario._” the man at the other side reported.

“Thank you, Ikari-kun. Keep me informed, everything must go according to the script we have planned for.” Nezu answered.

“_Of course, sir.”_

Taking a long sip, the rat-chimera sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought as he savored his drink.

“Your move, now, All for One. Surprise me.” Nezu whispered to the empty room, before dialing a number fast as a flash on his phone.

“James? It’s me.”

“_Yes?”_

“It’s time.”

“..._Shit._” Nezu could not in good conscience fault him for that answer, the stuff was really about to hit the fan after all.

**Extra File – “Stupid Sexy Deku” - **

**Art Class with Midnight - **

“Today we will study the human body and how the advancement of medical knowledge influenced art as well, and viceversa.” Nemuri explained as her projector showed few scans of ancient-looking sketches of a human arm.

“Really?” Aoyama asked.

“You would be surprised to know MANY artists were actually commissioned illustrations at the start of their careers. But Now we’ll go into a bit of practice as well, to make it more interesting: split in groups, one will be the model and the other will draw, once done you will switch with your partner and the artist will become the model. No pervert drawing, of course.” Nemuri said, and skillfully ignored Mineta’s whining fit.

“Wanna go first? You are better than me at drawing,” Izuku said with a sheepish smile.

“Okay! But you’ll have to go shirtless!” Himiko answered, her expression becoming feral fast.

“W-Wha?!”

“Don’t be shy! Abs are not obscene!” she answered.

“Y-You sure?”

“Uh-hu!”

“O-Okay…” the young man said, and recalling the Bio-Mass acting as the top half of his uniform so to remain bare-chested.

**Not too far away – With Jiro and Momo - **

“Okay, So I’ll be the model first?” Momo asked, eager.

“Yep! I’ll draw you good, have no fear!” Jiro answered with a thumbs-up.

“Perfect! I trust Y...Wow!” Momo’s answer went interrupted as her wide eyes locked on something behind the ear-jack girl.

“Uh? Something wro-HOLY SHIT!” Jiro gasped as she too looked behind her to see the rocking abs and muscles of Himiko’s model.

“_Kero!_ You could grate cheese on those!” Tsuyu was heard mutter in awe.

“C-C-Can you please stop looking?! It’s embarrassing!” Izuku begged with a red face and defeated expression that only worsened the situation.

“Class please relax, and you, Midoriya, cover yourself. Just because Himiko asked doesn’t mean you have to do it,” Nemuri called-out from her desk with a sigh.

“S-S-Sorry, sensei!” Izuku answered, meekly.

“_Sorry, Mistress!_” the same boy moaned inside Midnight’s imagination, soon followed by a cruel female laugh and the cracking sound of a whip.

“NGH!” the teacher grunted while biting her knuckles.

If her ‘_dry spell’_ did not end soon, that kid will be the death of her!

Things unfortunately did not get better for  Midnight when Aizawa dropped another bomb on her lap: Nexu had apparently talked Rumi Usagiyama into joining UA as a teacher and SHE had to be the bunny girl’s helper to get her acquainted as a teacher...

Starting by taking Class 1A to the school pool for some water-themed recovery lessons in preparation for their future trip to the USJ Building.

“Okay, brats! Few back and forth to get acclimated to the water temperature and then we’ll start!” Nemuri groaned as Rumi next to her gave a fairly-good impression of an Army instructor, almost kicking each kid into the water herself whenever it was their turn.

“A bit of tact, Usagiyama-san...Just a bit of tact.” Midnight muttered in dismay.

“I’ll use tact when I will see something worth the effort! You are up next, Broccoli boy!” the bunny girl answered, scoffing.

“Oh for the love of…” What Nemuri was about to hiss, stopped when she saw the rapt attention the girls in class were giving to the pool.

“Uhu? What now?” she muttered, confused, and it was then that the class watched Midoriya climb out of the pool wearing only a pair of super-skin-tight (_bio-mass-made_) swimming trunks that looked paint on and left _**NOTHING**_ to imagination and his wet hair hanging down in a very enticing manner.

“_DAYUM!_” both Nemuri and Usagiyama were forced to mentally admit as their eyes fell on the young man’s perfect butt, something that in their humble opinion was worthy to be immortalized on marble so that future generations could say “_That’s some fire Booty!’_ for millennia to come once seen it.

“Midoriya you bastard!” Mineta howled in disbelief, and tears of blood, as he and Kirishima noticed how every girl in their class kept looking down there on Izuku’s body.

“Uh? Something’s wrong?” he asked, innocently.

“No, baby! It’s all perfect from what I can see from here!” Rumi answered with a grin, before yelping in agony for the elbow to the liver Nemuri gave her for her lack of professionalism.

That boy will kill her, Nemuri was sure of it!

Luckily, in a sense, she was not the only one suffering from the boy’s attitude.

**Heroics Class – With Toshinori - **

“So! I have been reading some guide books for aspiring teachers, at Nezu’s insistence, and I think I got this down, finally…” Toshinori, wearing the eye-watering yellow striped suit he elected as his_ Teacher’s Garb’, _admitted while STILL perusing the book in his hands.

“Hallelujah!” Bakugo groaned in relief, a sentiment shared by the rest of the class as well.

“Here it suggests using actual examples to help the lesson stick, pretty much. So today, since the program talks about teaching you how to deal with Megalomaniacs that have took hostages, one of you will play the Villain while you others will take turns talking to him or her. The goal is to keep the Villain occupied for five minutes, ideally the time needed to your buddy or the police to get in and stop them for good...Got it?”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“Good! Of course we won’t be able to get ALL of you to be the Villain today, but I was accused to rush too much, so if THIS TIME I take things slower they should not whine. Let’s start: Asui? You first…”

And then came Izuku’s turn…

“I...I am not exactly Villain material…” the boy admitted, sheepish.

“It’s okay, just make it as much a stereotype you can then, at least we all will get a chuckle out of it, like friends.” Toshinori answered with an encouraging smile.

“O-Okay...SO...Stereotype Villain…” the boy muttered, and immediately, as soon as he mentally visualized what he needed, the _**Blacklight Virus**_ transformed his school uniform into an elegant dark-green suit and shirt ensemble adorned by a blood-red tie.

_(Sorry if I borrowed _ _this_ _, but if I got the idea for this scene, it’s thanks to _ _this fanart)._

“Hihihihi! Soo many Heroes to play with! Ah! I can’t wait…” ‘_Villain’_ Izuku said with a very aroused-sounding moan as his gloved hands palmed his cheeks.

“We’ll have soo much fun together!” He then said with a chilling smile and almost _shining_ acid green eyes.

“...Like this?” Izuku asked once dropped the act.

“…”

“...Y-Yeah, that could work.” Toshinori answered, unsure, especially at the _intense_ silence in the classroom.

“So? Who wants to take him first?”

“ME! ME!”

“NO ME!”

“GODDAMNIT I SAW HIM FIRST!”

“I CAN TAKE HIM ALL DAY LONG!”

“YOU CAN STAB ME WHENEVER YOU WANT, IZU-KUN! STAB ME! STAB MEEE!”

“_Eeek_!” Izuku shrieked as he saw the _**HUNGRY**_ looks he was being subjected with.

“I guess they like ‘_Villain Midoriya’_,” Todoroki said with an uncaring shrug.

“This is unbecoming for Heroes! This is borderline Sexual Harassment!” Iida answered, looking awfully indignant.

“I meant ‘_Take him on as a Villain’…_” Toshinori grumbled, face-palming at the chaos he had caused.

“...S-Stupid Sexy Deku…” Bakugo’s muttering though caused a new veil of silence to fall into the room.

And thus, the rumor mill of UA had several other stories to share about class 1A, and Inko got Aizawa _begging her_ to teach her son to be careful and not seduce people around him by mistake, people’s self control could last only so much before snapping and attacking that stupid sexy cinnamon roll...

  
  



	7. Truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the Villains attack at the USJ building, Izuku was forced to show his powers fully...Consuming comprised. Now he is nowhere to be found and hiding from his friends.  
It's time for them to learn the truth and to decide if he can still be a Hero and their Friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried a different approach for the USJ incident in this particular story, contrary to "Green Spider" and "No Problem, I am a Ninja" that instead will cover it in a more "Normal way", since I have already wrote those scenes and are just waiting to use them.  
In this case I felt I needed a different approach.  
I am open to rewrite it at a later date should it really be THAT BAD.
> 
> Pairing: Deku/ Ochako Uraraka/ Himiko Toga.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia or anything else I will use nor I make a profit out of this, I am writing just for the pleasure of doing it.

**UA High School – Nezu’s Office - **

The rat-bear-man-chimera was looking at the Pro Hero _Thirteen_ sitting in front of him with an unreadable expression.

“Again, from the beginning.” he asked.

_Sigh!_ “Exactly as programmed, Class 1A accompanied by Aizawa reached the courtyard of the building with barely a minute to spare from the accorded time. I went through the usual welcoming speech and explained to the kids why they had been brought there in the first place. Up until that moment everything followed routine.” the Woman said, lifting the visor of her space-suit Hero Costume to tiredly pass a hand on her face before lowering it back, flashing her face for barely a second.

“And you noticed nothing strange while you were doing that?”

“No, Nezu-san. My Quirk and its destructive potential had always made me wary of the minute changes around me thanks to my paranoia. Nothing was out of ordinary.”

“I see. When did the League of Villains made their flamboyant entrance instead?” Nezu asked next.

“Roughly an hour later, I was just about to divide the kids into groups that would have then been moved by my colleagues in the various Test Areas, following the accorded program. As soon as I started calling names the first portal opened and that hand-covered freak popped-out, he was _**excited**_, for an instant he reminded me of my niece during Christmas, he was clearly eager to be there. Then the others followed him out of that and once declared their intentions...I-It simply became Hell on Earth. I can’t give you too many details ad that mist-covered fool managed to monopolize my attention with his powers.” _Thirteen _answered.

“They were prepared. And probably had a mole in the USJ building…” Nezu muttered, thoughtful.

“UH?! How?!” she asked.

“The cameras were disabled, well, the ones everybody knew about, the secret ones I personally installed still worked, but I need some more details from people that actually were there. It still confirmed that they had a spy in there, because any Quirk about portal or teleportation works on _coordinates_, the more precise they are, the better. And that strange guy managed to split the students into groups and moved them with pin-point accuracy in the various areas, same for the _Cannon Fodder_ the Villains had bought along.” Nezu explained.

“So they either had somebody there giving them precise information...Or they got their hands on the building’s blueprints.” _Thirteen_ hissed in anger.

“Updated ones, I have already asked few people I trust to dig around if somebody stole, borrowed or even just ‘_breathed strangely’_ too close to those files. The _Earthquake Test Area_ is brand new, barely a month old after being moved and rebuilt from the ground-up, and yet that Villain knew where to drop those kids to make it hard for them to leave. They were even too prepared.”

“Whatever you need, just ask and I will help, Nezu-san!” the Pro Hero answered immediately.

“Good to know I can count on you,”

“...Nezu-san?” Thirteen asked with a small voice.

“Uh?”

“The things he said...About the boy...Are they true?”

“You mean about him being a walking Virus?” Nezu asked, nonplussed.

“Y-Yes.”

“True, every last word. But I can give you a more detailed explanation since they _obviously_ left-out enough details to make sure the kid will get alienated by everybody, so to make him easier to kidnap when they will need him.” the Principal offered.

“If you don’t mind.”

“Considering this is the same talk Aizawa and _Recovery Girl_ are having with Class 1A this very moment, I don’t mind at all. So I will start from the beginning.”

“Thank you.”

**At the same time – Class 1A - **

There was a somber silence inside the room as Aizawa, Midnight and _Recovery Girl_ were preparing a projector, and while they waited, most of the students’ eyes were locked at the only empty seat in the room, while others looked at the civilian form of Toshinori, at Sir Nighteye and at Mirio that stood in a corner with sad expressions.

“Everything’s ready?” Toshinori asked.

“Yes. Call him.” Aizawa answered.

“..._Yes?_” the voice coming from the phone’s speakers was heavy, as if the man at the other side was dreading that call.

“We are ready, James. I put you on speakers, so feel free to intervene whenever you want.” the retired Pro Hero All Might said.

“_As long as it will help Izuku, I will._” James answered with a tired sigh.

“You still can’t find him?!” Himiko asked, with the dark bags under her eyes showing how she had not slept a wink after the incident, her voice too was cracked in worry.

“_I keep combing the city, but he still avoids me._”

“You said that you could find everybody!” the girl snapped, furious.

“_I can if who I am looking for has not Blacklight powers as well and can use them to avoid me! I no longer have a Hive-mind of Infected to tap onto and hijack to find my targets!_” James answered with a tired scream.

“Hive-mind?” one of the students muttered, confused.

“Please calm down, we will find him and help him. But now we need to give people some background, they deserve to know the truth.” Mirio begged.

“_This wouldn’t have happened had he not joined that damn school!_”

“They knew of his powers, sooner or later they would have tracked him down all the same.” Nighteye answered, unfazed.

“…”

“What are you thinking?”

“_That I should have Consumed you all when you entered his house the first time, then I would have took he, his mother and Himiko to America under fake identity. Like that they would have been able to live a normal life._” James muttered with a dark tone, making Toshinori flinch in guilt.

“You have no right to decide for him,” Mina muttered.

“_Unfortunately ‘_Monsters’_ like us cannot join society like Normal people, we must live in the shadows. We are not worthy of the same rights apparently._”

“That is a Lie, and you yourself must know this, James-san. Is not the Power that makes a Villain, it’s how it is used.” Tokoyami countered.

“_Not the Blacklight. This thing was created to destroy and kill. I consider the fact you all are open to listen a miracle already, but as soon as you learn the Truth, then we’ll see how far your understanding goes…_”

“You are the worst possible Teacher Midoriya could have for his Powers.” Mezo said abruptly.

“_I talk from experience, boy.”_

“YOUR experience, and you filled his head in fear and this is the result.”

“_I know he Consumed that monster attacking you all, you mean to tell me that for an instant, he did not scare you?”_ James asked with a mocking tone.

“…” The class fell into a deep silence at that question.

“_Hn! Thought so._”

“I was not afraid.” Shoto said.

“_Uh?”_

“I was more worried about what that would mean for him once eaten that thing, mine was more worry about his Health.” the white-and-red haired teen explained.

“…”

“The moment I saw it I understood why he hates his Quirk, it’s easy to be scared of something like that, even if it is under your control. But from what I saw, he knows how to use it, until the very last moment he never used anything close to lethal force, even against that thing, it was desperation that made him do it.” Shoto said.

“…”

“Give them a chance, James-san. They deserve the truth, but I think we can trust them.” Midnight said.

“_I don’t trust them. I don’t trust any of you. As soon as I find Izuku, I will help him pack his things, Japan has just become enemy territory.”_

“JAMES!” Toshinori gasped in shock.

“Wait at least until we have done.” Aizawa said with a cautious tone.

“_No._”

“YOU WILL WAIT INSTEAD!” Himiko roared in answer.

“..._Fine, but once done I will come collect you too._” the man finally conceded.

“So be it.”

“Very well, as you all remember, those Villain that attacked the USJ two days ago addressed Midoroiya by calling him ‘Blacklight’…

**Two days ago – USJ Main Hall - **

T he group of Villains had just finished coming out from the Portal the strange man with a body made of black mist created when he personally addressed them all.

“Greetings, Heroes! We are _The League of Villains_ and we are here today to send a message.” the man had declared with a grandiose tone as other people joined him accompanied by a giant _Thing_ showing a physique of abnormal muscles, the creature just stood in place drooling and waiting for orders.

“All Might is not here, Kurogiri.” the Leader of the group, a young man with several severed hands grabbing onto his body (_one of which acting as his __**mask**_) said with a sneer once looked around.

“So it seems, but I wonder if killing these kids will give him the right push to come here.” Kurogiri answered, and the students could somehow tell he had a sinister smile on the quietly-burning featureless _flame_ acting as his head.

“But it seems like the other target is here at least,” the guy with horrible-scarred and _leathery_ skin said with a tiny smile once his eyes landed on Izuku.

“Well said, Dabi. Well said.” Kurogiri admitted.

“Second target?” Izuku asked, getting immediately on the defensive.

“Have no fear, young _Blacklight_.” Kurogiri said with a chilling tone, and pleased by the student’s eyes growing wide.

“We are not here for you, yet, we still need you to _grow_, to _evolve_.” he then said.

“W-What do you mean? I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Our Leader knows about you, about your dirty little secret...About Heller and your Virus.”

“Virus?” Tsuyu asked, confused just like many others.

“Are you sick, Midoriya?” Aizawa asked, fervently hoping the Villain won’t say more.

“Aaah! They don’t know? How mean of you, kiddo! You should never lie!” Dabi said, smirking cruelly.

“How long do you believe your lie will last? Especially with the potential you could unleash if you just stopped holding yourself back...Yours is not a Quirk, and that is exactly what we will need once the time is right, once your _strand_ has developed to our satisfaction.”

“Not a Quirk?” Kirishima muttered, confused.

“Your dear friend does not posses a Quirk, he can’t even be considered _Human_. He is, in its purest form, a Virus...A Weapon...A Walking, Thinking _**Extinction**_ _**Event**_. Can you already do it, I wonder? The _**Cloud…**_” Kurogiri asked, voice full of cruel amusement.

The rest of the kids and Pro Heroes present saw Izuku become impossibly pale and shaking, with tears already welling-up in his eyes and mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.

“I take that as a _yes_. How many would die first, should you release it? A thousand? Ten Thousand? A million? And how long before the entirety of Japan is erased from the map right after? Each iteration of Blacklight is stronger than the previous, so if Mercer could do those horrible things, if Heller could surpass him, what will you be able to do as the third Generation? How far will you grow? For now we will let you go as it is still too soon, but your turn will come, we will come for you once it will be your turn to help us along with our plans…” Kurogiri declared as several portals opened under the students to send them in random locations of the USJ building.

“FUCK YEAH! Mission Start!” the last thing the ones moved away before the portal closed, was the hand-covered young man yell in glee.

**End of the Flashback – present time – Classroom - **

“What is the _**Cloud**_ that bastard talked about?” Katsuki asked.

“_One of the most devious things Mercer could do, and that ideally me and Izuku as well could do, if we were sick monsters like him. Simply put, turn every cell of our body into _Spores_ of Blacklight Virus and violently _explode_ so to cover an ample area in it to start spreading an infection of biblical proportions. I can ideally cover the entire __city__ easily, Izuku would just need to do it inside a Mall during rush hour __instead__...Gentek estimated time ago that even for a cloud that small it would take just a month before a territory as big as half of Japan is ‘_Lost’. _Blacklight spreads damn fast. Too fast._” James explained, making the class pale considerably.

“What is this Blacklight Virus, then?” Momo asked.

“Here is where I jump in.” _Recovery Girl_ said while turning on the projector to show a picture of a jet-black cell with thin _stubs _of hair-thin tentacles around it.

“This is the Blacklight Virus, a picture of a cell from a pure strand, the strand that makes-up for 100% of Midoriya’s body. He is literally made out of these.”

“Bullshit! That’s no blood! He is a human!” Katsuki said immediately.

“_Ah! That open__s__ another can of worms._” James said from the phone with a bitter laugh.

“What the fuck do you mean?!”

“_When you are infected with Blacklight, you BECOME Blacklight. This thing overwrites your entire being, __you barely remain ‘_YOU’_ once infected, but transform into a completely different being, __you only keep your mind and Soul (_If those exist) _from what you were before__. __If the Virus infects you AFTER you die instead,_ _the thing’s able to__ resurrect your dead body and control it __by__ itse__lf, at that point __what others see __is just __some __Blacklight going around wearing your face as a mask, and using your memories to patch-up enough Sentience __for itself __to __think and __act freely__.” _James answered.

“WHAT?!”

“Most of it is explained here in this file, dated 1987.”

“WOH-WOH-WOH! 1987?!” Toru shrieked.

“Please don’t interrupt.”

“S-Sorry.” the invisible girl muttered.

“Blacklights’ History goes back all the way to 1970s, but we’ll get there. Yaoyorozu, please read it aloud.” Aizawa added.

“Yes. _Ah-hem_. May 10th 1987\. 11,27 AM.

Test subject ‘_Rex’_. One (1) dog, race: Rottweiler, owned by agent [REDACTED] and fully trained as a guard dog. Perfect health.

With the Agent’s approval the dog has been put down by blunt-force trauma to the head and then had the head removed completely by…” _Gulp! “By c-cutting it off with a medical saw above the third neck vertebrae._” Momo read aloud, gulping down her disgust with clear difficulty.

“What the Hell is wrong with that people?!” Jiro screeched in horror.

“_They did the same with humans, __THOUSANDS__ of them. Keep reading, girl._” James answered.

“I-I’ll try…” She answered, taking a deep breath.

“Once waited twenty four hours after incineration of the Dog’s head, 20 cc of ‘_Strand 3’ _of the Virus has been injected inside the headless body.

Ten minutes after injection, subject is once again alive, and once fed-”

“_With a living and unwilling human, trust me on that._” James added.

“My God...Subject is once again alive, and once fed shows no signs of trauma from its death and can still obey commands from Agent [REDACTED] like before. Only difference seems to be cases of heightened hostility towards everybody else that is not the Subject’s _Owner_. Further test pending.” Momo finished reading before shakily returning to sit.

“What you have heard is one of MANY similar tests done by the now long defunct ‘_Gentek Industries’_.” Aizawa said, showing the next slide: an old picture of two people shaking hands in front of a giant plaque with three hexagons.

“This was a biological and genetic research company founded by Dr. Raymond McMullen in 1976. While posing as a normal pharmaceutical company, behind the scene they were THE Leading Experts in Biological weapons research. And the guys that created the Blacklight Virus, Midoriya’s Quirk.” Midnight explained.

“But haven’t you said that his is not a Quirk, Sensei?” Tsuyu asked.

“It is. In simple terms...If we all have Quirks today, it’s probably because Gentek did those experiments and created the Blacklight Virus years ago…” _Recovery Girl_ said with a grave tone.

“…”

“I-I am sorry, I don’t understand…” Tenya asked with a shaken voice as the first to break the long moment of silence.

“Next slide, please read it aloud, Iida.” Aizawa asked, somberly.

“O-Okay.” the boy obeyed, and once cleared his throat, started reading aloud what the projector showed on the wall.

“Doctor Alexander J. Mercer. July 25th 1990.

Subject ‘_Maria’_...T-T-Ten (10) years of age!..._My God..._

Subject is healthy and is developing well under the effects of ‘_Strand 11’_ of the Virus.

She is already able to regrow her legs after having them surgically removed as per standard procedure after the car incident where she has been found as the only survivor. Muscle strength increased of 200% along accelerated metabolism.

As a curious development, the new feet have an extra a toe-joint, and no matter how many times said toes are removed, they reform with the exact same defect. Further studies are needed to see if more defects put subject’s health at risk.” Tenya finished reading with wide eyes.

“Beside how disgusting they were to run their tests on children, have you seen anything peculiar?” Midnight asked while the bespectacled teen sat back down.

“The toe joint. One of the ways we still use to recognize the possible presence of a Quirk.” Momo muttered.

“S-So the girl had a Quirk?” Mina asked.

“The kid _developed_ powers once artificially mutated by a variant of Blacklight.” Aizawa answered.

“We have theorized that after the battle between James and Mercer, Gentek went forcefully decommissioned to hide their researches, researches that later other companies secretly continued developing, until the first _Quirk_ appeared.” Nighteye explained.

“They...They wanted to get Quirks?”

“_They CREATED Quirks. Blacklight was at the beginning just another Bio-Weapon to sell to the best bidder, it was by chance that they discovered it could also create **Super Soldiers,** whoever took over Gentek’s researches wanted humanity to take a step forward in Evolution...And even a moron can tell they actually did it.”_ James said.

“How? How did they go from a weapon to ‘_I will make ‘humans better’?_” Kaminari asked.

“Blacklight is a Virus, when it enters a cell, it uses that cell’s DNA for its own purposes, activating every non-coding regions of the genome. For you others that have not studied Medicine yet, it means drastic and VIOLENT biological changes.” _Recovery Girl_ explained.

“Now that usually means massive organs failure, so a very horrible death, but with the Blacklight Virus it would sometimes produce a barely-functional, semi-liquid _blob_ they could use as a culture to keep that particular strand of Virus _fresh_.” the woman said, making many develop a green face of disgust.

“_Then came the ‘_Funny Part’_, a couple of test subjects, like that kid, did not die or turn into flesh puddles trapped inside an immortal semi-liquid body in constant agony. They got ‘_Uplifted’_. They become what you would call _Quirked_ today.” _James add.

At that on the screen the teachers projected pictures old and new of Mercer, James and Izuku sporting the mutations caused by the various _powers_ of the Blacklight Virus like the _claws_, the _Blade_ or the _Hammerfist_.

“That picture, and the date on it...You...You are the same James that fought Mercer all those years ago?” Ochako asked.

“_Yes. As long as I eat something, not necessarily human, I will not grow old or die. There is no illness or old age for somebody like me as long as we have Biomass to use._”

“Mercer was killed before he could bring to light Gentek’s experiments, the Blacklight Virus he had with him as a proof infected his corpse and brought it back to Life while also infecting millions of people turning the ones with _weak_ DNA into zombie-like creatures or other monstrosities, and for a while the Virus believed to BE Mercer, before it learned the truth and just..._Rejected its new-found humanity_, in a sense.” Toshinori explained, sighing.

“_Years later Mercer infected me with the idea of turning me into his Leutenant in his quest of World Domination/__Uplifting__. I instead killed and Consumed the bastard. __Done that, w__hile the Leaders of the world managed with some difficulties to erase every trace of what happened form History books, I went into hiding and switched identities for years. Until I met Izuku and got him almost __killed__ because of a Punk Villain-wannabe. In order to not have a kid on my conscience, I took a gamble and Infected him with Blacklight to save his life...And here we are.”_ James said, sighing.

“Was he still alive when you did that?” Tenya asked.

“_Yes, don’t worry, he is Izuku, not a Virus PRETENDING to be him.”_

“Why did you do that?! Who the fuck gave you the right?!” Katsuki demanded, wild micro explosions popping in his hands without control.

“_It was either that or letting him die, you fucking Megalomaniac Pomeranian!_”

“Please calm down.” Mirio begged.

“So...So what now?” Jiro asked, uncertain.

“Now it’s up to you. The Prime Minister is already breathing on our neck: Midoriya will have to either return here, or be closed in some lab under their direct control. Depending which one of the two options he chooses, he will either learn to be a Hero or..._Be Removed.” _Midnight answered, shuddering a little.

“You meant ‘_Killed’, _sensei?” Momo asked, making many look at her with scared eyes.

“_That’s the best scenario. I would not put it past them to use him to create THEIR personal Quirked Agents, like Hawks has secretly warned us about_.” James answered with a bitter tone.

“Thank God Nezu convinced him to be our mole in there…” Toshinori muttered, sighing.

“What do you think?” Ochako asked to her classmates.

“He must be damn scared now,” Kaminari answered.

“Not in small part thanks to his teacher. James must have filled his head in tales of Gentek and whatnot, so now he probably sees enemies everywhere.” Aoyama answered.

“Those were justified fears back in the days. Now that we are in a Quirked society, if Midoriya does not stand out too much, nobody will notice his powers are different.” Mezo added.”

“S-S-So you guys are not afraid?” Mineta asked.

“With how soft-spoken he is, not really. I just can’t see him going on a rampage if even being Yaomomo’s _aide_ as a class representative turns him into a nervous wreck.” Toru answered.

“_Tch!_ If _**I**_ did not slaughter you all, and goddamnit there are days you make me feel _tempted_, that Nerd won’t either. He wanted to save _Round Face_ down there and broke a _Taboo_ of his by eating that thing, nothing more.” Katsuki answered, scoffing.

“_...__You all are lying._” James said, making the others groan.

“James not everybody is out to get you! For God’s sake stop making others live in fear!” Himiko begged in annoyance.

“About that thing, though…How does it work?” Shoto asked.

“_Consuming?_”

“Yes.”

“Simply put, a possessor of Blacklight can absorb into themselves _**everything**_ about their victim: Knowledge, Memories, Abilities and we suspect even Quirks.” _Recovery Girl_ answered, making several eyes bulge-out.

“So if Icchan Consumes me or Ochako-chan or anybody else…” Tsuyu asked.

“He will then be able to use your Quirk just as well as you could until that moment thanks to your Memories and then later train in it at his leisure, he would even be able to turn into you and perfectly pretend to be you. Or at least that is my theory since luckily Midoriya never Consumed living beings with Quirks, except that monstrosity.” the old woman answered.

“I can do a similar thing thanks to my Quirk, albeit for a limited amount of time and without absorbing the memories as well from the blood I drink.” Himiko added.

“That also may confirm the theory he does possess the first version of the Mutation from which Quirks came to be, some of his powers are similar to many Quirks around nowadays.” Momo muttered.

“So? What will it be? We are leaving the choice to you since only this class knows the truth about him still. We are trying to make sure nobody will be too scared should things become public knowledge, but we can’t force you to accept him here.” Aizawa asked.

“…”

“…”

“I say we let him in.” Kirishima said.

“_Uh?!”_ from the phone they all heard James’ choking on himself in surprise.

“I mean...He never bothers anybody, right?” the teen tried saying.

“We accepted Katsuki, so why not him too? At least we know Midoriya won’t attack us just because he is bored!” Tokoyami added, chuckling.

“HOY!” said blond roared in annoyance.

“_Kero!_ I remind you I have animal instincts as well as human’s, and those never warned me against him. I say he has every right to be here, scary Quirk or not.” Tsuyu added.

“He either comes here or I leave.” Himiko said, huffing.

“I owe him my life...Had he not Consumed that thing I would not be here today. I-I want him to be back!” Ochako, still shivering at the memories of the Hulking Nomu about to squash her under its fists, said with a trembling voice.

**Flashback – During the attack at the USJ -**

Ochako, and the others, could only look in shock as their classmate exchanged blows with the hulking figure the Villains called a ‘_Nomu’._

Neither of the two seemed to care about Pain as whenever the creature grabbed Izuku to slam him on the ground hard enough for his body to almost break-apart, the teen would just heal, re-grow the heavy _Hammerfists_ on both his arms and assault the thing with thunderous hits that DID sent it tumble on the floor.

_ **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!** _

And more than once the thing would give back the pain by grabbing Izuku by a leg and slam him on the ground several times with enough strength to leave craters, until the boy broke free thus restarting the cycle.

“I-Is he immortal?” Mina asked with wide eyes.

“He isn’t. He is getting thin fast, he is consuming himself to heal.” Tenya answered, tersely.

“If he runs-out of usable body-mass before stopping that thing, he will die.” Momo, guessing his Quirk worked similar to hers, said between clenched teeth.

“Then why is he not stopping?!”

“I...I fear he doesn’t care anymore after what they said.” the young woman muttered, looking distraught.

_ **WHAM!** _

Having grabbed the teen in both arms, the Nomu slammed Iuku on the ground before mercilessly jumping on his chest driving him _deep_ into the concrete of the floor.

“GRAAAH!” Ignoring the pain, the kid grabbed the legs of the creature and forecd it to lose balance until it fell on its back, and once climbed on top of it s wide chest, use the _Muscle Mass_ power to harden his fists and start pummeling the monster’s head with no mercy.

_ **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ** _

“Oh-Ooooh! Embracing the Monster in you now, Boy?” Dabi asked aloud, amused, and watching Izuku try out-punching the Nomu without even bothering to evade or defend as both rolled on the floor.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” the green-haired kid would reply, eyes stained in tears of anger while slamming both _Hammerfists_ several times on the sides of the Nomu’s head making it howl in both pain and anger.

“Blunt force won’t work~! You are wasting time!” Shigaraki taunted him with a sing-song voice.

“All Might is not here yet. Maybe is time for one of the kids to actually die. NOMU!” Kurogiri ordered, making the hulking beast stop exchanging blows with Izuku to briefly look at him.

“Kill the girl.” the Villain ordered while pointing at Ochako.

“Noo!” Izuku yelled in horror as he went shoved aside by the Nomu’s charge against Ochako and Himiko.

“**_AAAAAAAH!_**” the creature let-out a monstrous roar as it soon was on top of the two girls.

“NO!”

_ **SPLAT!** _

Before the Nomu’s punch could actually land on Ochako’s face with enough power to split her head open, the giant hand stopped at an inch before impact.

“…U-Uh?” the girl muttered while peeling an eye open to see why no hit landed on her.

“That...Was not part of the plan.” Kurogiri admitted, shocked.

There was a long and thick jagged blade piercing the Nomu’s head from the back and all the way out of the front neatly splitting its skull in two, a blade that took place of Izuku’s right arm and managed to cut through the monster’s tough skin after the various hits ‘_softened it’_ enough.

“I...I am sorry…” The kid said in tears while thick tendrils started covering the Nomu from the blade’s entry point until those rapidly covered the entire body under a grotesque web of engorged pulsating _roots_ of flesh.

Under the horrified eyes of the ones present, those very same _roots_ rapidly and forcefully compressed the body of the giant Nomu into a small ball of flesh that went then absorbed Izuku’s body, with the kid collapsing on the floor in agony right after once Consumed that giant blob of Bio-Mass.

“FUCK! THAT WAS OUR NOMU!”

“He was not supposed to Consume it. The Doctor was certain the Nomu he created was impervious to such a thing!” Kurogiri hissed in contempt.

“Well, we have other things to worry about.” Dabi answered, bitterly, as All Might choose that exact moment to burst into the room.

**Present Day – End of the Flashback - **

“Me and Ochako-chan went very close at dying, in the end what he did was the only thing he had left, I know he is not Evil, and for all that is worth, I am ready to vouch for him a thousand times over.” Himiko said, sighing.

“We never have enough eye-candy in this class!...Okay and I like him, for real.” Toru admitted, chuckling.

“I trust him! He clearly wishes to use his Quirk to be a Hero!” Tenya said.

“Yaomomo?” Mina asked.

“I am okay to have him as a classmate, you?” she answered.

“Yep!”

“But...But I am scared of him!” Mineta said.

“Good fucking riddance! Switch class if you don’t have the balls to sit at the _Big Guys_ Table!” Katsuki answered.

“So beside the ‘_Cliche Pervert Comic Relief’_ Character, all of you are okay with this?” Aizawa asked.

“Yes, sensei!” the class answered as one.

“H-Hey! I am not that Cliche!”

“You are just a teenage _Master Roshi, Happosai _and_ Jiraiya _with barely a fourth of their redeeming qualities, shut up.” Jiro answered.

“Nuuu…”

“…”

“What do you say, James? Not convinced yet?” Nighteye asked.

“_Not really, but unless we find Izuku, this sappy moment won’t help much._” the other answered.

_Sigh!_ “I think I know where he is hiding…” Katsuki muttered with a sigh.

“Uh? WHERE?! WHERE?!” Himiko asked immediately.

“He is probably hiding near the same river we used to play in as kids, before I got my Quirk...And fucked-up our friendship.” the blond admitted with a groan.

“Why that happened, by the way?” Kirishima asked, curious.

“None of your business!”

“...He hates the notion that since they both have a Quirk, Midoriya won’t be able to see him as his Hero. Apparently he believes that in order to be his friend’s Idol, Izuku has to be a Quirkless. He is just afraid he won’t have his friend’s real respect and adoration if both have a Quirk.” Nighteye answered, making Katsuki’s face turn into a blinding shade of red.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!” the teen shrieked.

“Since we got tired of your _Tsundere Attitude_, we asked to a student with Brainwash Quirk to have you spill the beans and then forget the questioning. We were worried you had murderous intentions towards a student after the incident at the Battle Trial instead of just a need of validation from your childhood friend.” Aizawa answered, shrugging.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!”

“Aww! That’s adorable! And also completely stupid since Izu-chan has always openly admitted of finding your Quirk cool and you a good candidate for the ‘_Number One Hero’_ title...But it is still adorable.” Mina declared, chuckling.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!” Katsuki roared again in shame.

“That is an excessive form of overreaction,” Shoto commented.

“So we have a clue about his possible position,” Midnight commented.

“_Possibly. Give me the coordinates, I am going there myself. As for now I am probably the only guy that can get close to him without him attacking out of fear._” James offered.

“Take him here, James. THEN we will talk about this infectious paranoia of yours.” _Recovery Girl_ answered.

_Sigh! “Yes, madame…_”

**One Hour later - **

Silence fell into the room as soon as James entered the place accompanied by a shivering Izuku.

“Hey! You are late, Midoriya! You okay?” Present Mic asked with his usual jovial tone, as if nothing was out of ordinary.

“My fault, Mic. I needed some time with him so he missed a couple days of school.” James answered, lying blatantly as both he and the teacher knew the truth.

“It’s okay! I will let it slide this time!” the Teacher answered with a double thumbs-up.

“…” nobody missed how Izuku instead kept hiding behind the hulking man to look at the class with scared eyes.

“Izuku…” Himiko muttered as she tentatively neared him.

“You okay?” Ochako asked while doing the same.

“I-I-I-I-I…”

“We know about your Quirk, Midoriya-kun. It’s okay.” Tenya offered with a kind smile.

“…”

“I told you already, It’s how you use your powers that says who you are, not the power itself.” Tokoyami said with _Dark Shadow _peeking-out to wave at him.

“I am sorry…” Izuku muttered.

“It’s okay.” Himiko answered, slowly hugging him tightly while Ochako did the same from behind him.

“Welcome back _Home_, Nerd.” Katsuki said while giving a gentle squeeze to his shoulder.

“W-W-WAAAAAAAAAAH!” the desperate cry of relief made the other let out a breath as they watched their friend collapse on his knees while crying his eyes out.

“Should we tell him to change the name of his Quirk?” Tsuyu, smiling warmly at the scene, asked.

“No, there is already a Quirk called ‘_Black Light’_ out there, it would be too confusing otherwise.” Momo answered, smiling.

While the students were welcoming their scared friend back and repeating over and over and over again that YES they did not think any less of him after learning the truth of his powers, the Adults in the know, meaning James, UA’s Teachers, Nezu, Nighteye and Toshinori, all had a question gnawing the back of their head that still needed an answer:

Why All for One wants the _Blacklight Virus_? What does he plan to do with it?

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Apex](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782454) by [cadrack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadrack/pseuds/cadrack)


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